The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother. “‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:20-23
“Haggai’s final sermon, the second of the day, sounded a note of triumph. His first sermon of the day announced the beginning of blessing; his final message declared its consummation, the ultimate reality. The prospect of blessing was good, and the best was yet to be. Up to this point, Haggai’s focus has been on the completion of the temple, a crucial component in God’s redemptive plan leading to the fulness of time when Christ would come in what we know to be His first advent.
In this last address, he details events that we know accompany Christ’s second advent. We have a time advantage over Haggai’s congregation enabling us to make that distinction. But awareness of the time gap was not essential to grasping the significance of the message: The success of Christ’s kingdom was certain. Like his other sermons, this last one was short and to the point. Unlike the others, this was addressed directly to Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the civil leader and the chief supervisor of the temple reconstruction. He was the civil authority and even of the tribe of Judah and descendant of David, but he was not the king.
David’s throne was still vacant, and there was no immediate prospect of a sitting king as the nation was still under foreign domination even though the exile was past. Babylon gave way to Persia, and then there would be Greece and Rome. It appeared there was no hope for a Messianic kingdom, and that situation potentially could jeopardize the temple construction yet again. So, God gave them a look at the future to encourage them for the present. Haggai declared that the kingdoms of this world would fail, and that the kingdom of Christ would prevail.”
Michael P. V. Barrett in Haggai (The Gospel Coalition Commentary) notes on Haggai 2:20-23.
I love how Haggai ends.
In the first sermon of the day, Haggai proclaimed blessing on the people. As they focused on rebuilding God’s house, they could anticipate blessing. And, in the second sermon of the day, Haggai announced a message to Zerubbabel. His work in his day, had a purpose in God’s bigger story that was unfolding that would ultimately result in the establishment of the eternal kingdom of Christ.
That’s what we need to remember and notice how it relates to us.
We serve like Zerubbabel. We play a part in God’s unfolding story. We do this by using all we are and all we have to make Christ known to the nations before the second advent. In that sense, we are right in the middle of the story. What part will we play? Like Zerubbabel, He will make us His signet ring when we give careful thought to our ways and give everything we’ve got to building His Church.
When look to the future we do find encouragement to grow in generosity in the present.