Haggai 2:9

Haggai 2:9

The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the LORD of hosts, and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

a. NLT: The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the LORD Almighty.” [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. YLT: Greater is the honour of this latter house, Than of the former, said Jehovah of Hosts, And in this place do I give peace, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.' [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Amplified Bible: The latter glory of this house [with its successor, to which Jesus came] shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace and prosperity, says the Lord of hosts. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Septuagint: For the glory of this house shall be great, the latter more than the former, saith the Lord Almighty: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord Almighty, even peace of soul for a possession to every one that builds, to raise up this temple.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: The glory of this latter Temple will be greater than [that of] the first, said HASHEM, Master of Legions; and I will grant peace to this place, the word of HASHEM, Master of Legions. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former,…”

a. [The] glory [Strong: 3519 kabowd kaw-bode' rarely kabod {kaw-bode'}; from 3513; properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness:--glorious(-ly), glory, honour(-able).]

1). As has been already covered, “the glory” refers to the material wealth, the outward adornment of the Temple.

b. [of] this [Strong:  2088 zeh zeh a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:--he, X hence, X here, it(-self), X now, X of him, the one...the other, X than the other, (X out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, X thus, very, which.]

c. latter [Strong: 314 'acharown akh-ar-one' or (shortened) ;acharon {akh-ar-one'}; from 309; hinder; generally, late or last; specifically (as facing the east) western:--after (-ward), to come, following, hind(-er, -ermost, -most), last, latter, rereward, ut(ter)most.]

d. house [Strong: 1004 bayith bah'-yith; probably from 1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.):--court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter)house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).]

e. [shall] be [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

f. greater [Strong: 1419 gadowl gaw-dole' or (shortened) gadol {gaw-dole'}; from 1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:--+ aloud, elder(-est), + exceeding(-ly), + far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, X sore, (X ) very.]

g. than [Strong: 4480 min min or minniy {min-nee'}; or minney (constructive plural) {min-nay'}; (Isaiah 30:11); for 4482; properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses (as follows):--above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.]

e. [of the] former [Strong: 7223 ri'shown ree-shone' or riishon {ree-shone'}; from 7221; first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun):--ancestor, (that were) before(-time), beginning, eldest, first, fore(-father) (-most), former (thing), of old time, past.] 

1). In Alfred Edershiem’s book, Bible History, there is a footnote, #29 in Chapter 6 that says, “Comparing the Temple of Solomon with that of Herod, the latter was of course much superior, not only as regards size, but architectural beauty.”

2). When Herod built the Temple, he enlarged the Temple built in Haggai’s day. The construction commenced in 19 B.C and finished in 27 A.D. According to John 2:20, it took 46 years. A couple interesting facts to think about is that while the Temple was being constructed, Jesus was born, and this same Herod who was building a magnificent Temple to glorify God, had the male infants at Bethlehem slaughtered, Matthew 2:16. Approximately the same time that Jesus began his ministry, the Temple was completed.  Considering the time and effort put into building the Temple, it is no wonder that Jesus disciples were so impressed with the Temple, Mark 13:1, 2.

3). Gordon Lindsay, Did Politics affect Jesus, “…within 40 years (approx.) after the disciple had pointed out to the Lord the marvels of this great structure, the whole edifice was consumed by fire,…the soldiers of Titus who looted the city, tore one stone from the other in an effort to recover the gold, which by reason of the great heat, had melted and ran down between them.”

4). Did it surpass Solomon’s Temple?

a). Spiritually it does surpass, if it refers to the 2 dispensations, Hebrews 3:5, 6; 2 Corinthians 3:7-11.

b). Remember, Jesus walked in this Temple many times, Luke 2:41-49; Matthew 21:12-16.

c). This is following the Apostle Paul’s example of showing the allegory of the two covenants, Galatians 4:22-26.

d). But again the context is not referring to spiritual but material wealth. Because of that I personally believe the great transfer of wealth is referring to Israel, in the Millennial reign of Christ and the perfect age after the Millennial reign.

Review Haggai 2:6-9

1. There is in the Body of Christ, a teaching that right before the second coming of Christ there is going to be a huge transfer of wealth that is going to enable the Body of Christ to finance the end time  effort to preach the gospel in all the earth.

2. One of the passages used to teach this is Haggai 2:6-9.

3. The chronological context of verse 6 specifically the shaking of “the heavens and the earth” point to the end of the millennial reign of Christ. This is because the inspired writer of Hebrews interprets the shaking of “the heavens and the earth” with their removal which connects it to the removal of the heavens and earth at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:11-21. [Cp. 2 Peter 3:7-13].

4. The phrase shaking heaven and earth is used 3 times in Scripture. It is used in Haggai twice, Haggai 2:6 and 2:21. The passage in Haggai 2:21 is   referring to the second coming of Christ and the millennial. In Isaiah 13:13, the shaking takes place on the day of the Lord. In Joel 3:16 the context is Armageddon, Joel 3:9-16, [Cp. Revelation 14:17-20].

5. In Haggai 2:7, the Lord speaks of shaking the nations, causing the desired wealth of the nations to be brought to fill the temple of Haggai’s day.

6. From the context of Haggai 2:3, 7, 8, 9 it is clear the LORD is speaking of material wealth.

7. The trouble is that the Scriptures that mention wealth coming in, Zechariah 14:14; Isaiah 60:9-11 and Isaiah 61:4-6 point to either the second coming of Christ, or during the millennial or the end of the millennial reign of Christ.