Haggai 2:1-23 is the prophecy concerning the house of Jehovah in the millennium and the promise of Messiah in the coming kingdom.
In verses 1 through 9 the prophet Haggai was charged to speak to the people concerning the house of Jehovah. “For thus says Jehovah of hosts, Yet once more—it is but a little while—I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, and the Desire of all the nations will come; and I will fill this house with glory, says Jehovah of hosts. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares Jehovah of hosts. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says Jehovah of hosts; and in this place I will give peace, declares Jehovah of hosts” (vv. 6-9). This prophecy concerning the house of Jehovah in the millennium was an encouragement to the building of Jehovah’s house at Zerubbabel’s time.
Verse 7 reveals that Christ is the Desire of all the nations. I appreciate the line in Charles Wesley’s hymn that says, “Come, Desire of nations, come!” Christ truly is the desire of all mankind. All people desire to have life, light, peace, goodness, and righteousness, yet they do not realize that what they desire is really Christ. Christ is life, light, and peace. If we do not have Him, we do not have life, light, peace, or any of the human virtues. Christ is the reality of every human virtue. Thus, to desire virtue actually is to desire Christ.
According to God’s arrangement in His creation of man, the human virtues, such as love, kindness, patience, and humility, are for the expression of the divine attributes. It is God’s intention that the attributes of His being would be expressed by man in his virtues. As an illustration of this, consider a glove that is designed in the form of a human hand. The hand is the content of the glove, and the glove is the expression of the hand. Likewise, the human virtues are the “glove” for the expression of the divine attributes as the “hand.” Just as a glove without a hand has no content, so the human virtues without the divine attributes have no reality.
Genesis 1:26 tells us that God made man in His own image and according to His likeness. Nevertheless, man was empty, having only the outward form but not having God as his inward content. God intended, therefore, that the man created in His image would exercise his will to choose God, signified by the tree of life, as his content. To choose God in this way means that we receive God’s life with His attributes into us to be expressed through us by our virtues. For example, one of God’s attributes is love. We may say that this love is part of the “hand” and that our human virtue of love is part of the “glove.” Even unbelievers have a natural, human love. Of course, they do not have the divine attribute of love. As believers, we have received God as our life, and as He lives within us, His attribute of love is expressed through the virtue of our human love. In this way, Christ becomes the reality of this human virtue.
Today people everywhere desire life, light, love, patience, and endurance without realizing that to desire these virtues is actually to desire Christ. All people, including unbelievers, desire Christ unconsciously. This is what it means to say that Christ is the Desire of all the nations.
In verses 10 through 19 the prophet spoke about the people’s uncleanness and Jehovah’s dealing with them and then blessing them. The uncleanness here was not physical but moral and spiritual, involving their relationship with God. Once the uncleanness was removed, they would be blessed by God.
Finally, in verses 20 through 23 we have the promise of Messiah (typified by Zerubbabel) in the coming kingdom. Haggai was charged to speak to Zerubbabel, saying, “I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms and will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, each by the sword of his brother. In that day, declares Jehovah of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant, declares Jehovah, and make you as a signet ring; for I have chosen you, declares Jehovah of hosts” (vv. 21-23). Jehovah’s making Zerubbabel as a signet ring indicates that Jehovah regarded him as His representative and that He loved him and trusted him. Zerubbabel was surely such a one. He represented God, and he was loved and trusted by God.
In this matter Zerubbabel is a type of Christ, for God’s signet has been given to Christ. He represents God, and He is the One whom God loves and trusts. As such a person, He is qualified to take care of the building of God’s house, the church.