Zephaniah and Haggai
Zephaniah
Zephaniah concludes his book with promises of favor and prosperity in the days of the Messiah.
3.8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
11 In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
This is the time of the kingdom, fulfilled when Christ reigns on the earth.
Here are some of the comments from Adam Clarke's commentary on chapter 3:
3:9 Will I turn to the people - This promise must refer to the conversion of the Jews under the Gospel.
That they may all call - That the whole nation may invoke God by Christ, and serve him with one consent; not one unbeliever being found among them.
3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion - Here is not only a gracious prophetic promise of their restoration from captivity, but of their conversion to God through Christ.
3:15 The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee - They have never had a king since the death of Zedekiah, and never shall have one till they have the King Messiah to reign among them; and this promise refers to that event.
3:17 He will joy over thee with singing - The conversion of the Jews will be a subject of peculiar delight and exultation to God himself! There will be a more than ordinary joy in heaven, when the Jews return to God through Christ.
3:20 when I turn back your captivity before your eyes - On their conversion to Christianity, they shall become as eminent as they ever were in the most illustrious days of their history, Lord, hasten the conversion of Israel! Amen.”
Haggai
Haggai prophesied in Jerusalem after the return from Babylon. He and Zechariah encouraged the Jews as they rebuilt the temple.
2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
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.
The Jews were rebuilding the temple but were becoming despondent, 2:3 Who is there among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? It is to this discouragement that God speaks to them. The point is, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. So how does this speak of Christ? to quote the Apostle Paul, much in every way!
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth …
This is quoted in Hebrews 12:26-29
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
This yet once more is significant. God will shake all things and only what cannot be shaken will remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
and the desire of all nations shall come - while this is not quoted in the New Testament, I believe this refers to Christ. Oh, I am fully aware that many translations and commentators disagree! John Calvin presents the two views of the desire of all nations
“The desire of all nations. This admits of two explanations. The first is, that nations shall come and bring with them everything that is precious, in order to consecrate it to the service of God. Hence some render the passage thus, I will shake all nations, and they shall come with what they desire; that is, the nations shall not come empty, but shall gather all their treasures to be a holy oblation to God.
But we may understand what he says of Christ, Come shall the desire of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory. We indeed know that Christ was the expectation of the whole world, according to what is said by Isaiah. And it may be properly said, that when the desire of all nations shall come, that is, when Christ shall be manifested, in whom the wishes of all ought to centre, the glory of the second Temple shall then be illustrious.
But as it immediately follows, Mine is the silver, and mine is the gold, the more simple meaning is that which I first stated - that the nations would come, bringing with them all their riches, that they might offer themselves and all their possessions as a sacrifice to God.”
I acknowledge all this, but I am convinced that this passage is about Christ, and the glory that will fill this house is not the splendor, shimmer, and shine of gold and silver, but the presence of the Son of God. Therefore I remain convinced that the desire of all nations is really Christ. We actually sing this during Advent and Christmas:
A rarely sung stanza of Hark, The Herald Angels Sing (Charles Wesley)
Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
and, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (also Charles Wesley)
Come, Thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee:
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former – this might be hard to do since the glory of the former was truly great. “The Jews themselves own there were several things wanting in the latter which were in the former: the ark, the mercy seat, and cherubim; the Shekhinah glory; the Holy Spirit, which is prophecy; Urim and Thummim; and the fire from heaven.” (John Gill)
How can this latter house have greater glory than all that?
Jesus, the Son of God, the Christ, came to this temple. He taught and performed miracles in this temple. On the Day of Pentecost there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Then Peter preached and 3,000 people were converted. Yes, the glory of this latter house was indeed greater than the former!
in this place I will give peace – Christ, the Prince of Peace came to the temple; he is our peace; and he came and preached peace to you that were afar off and to them which were nigh. Amen!
Yes, this is a powerful prophecy of Messiah which has been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, who is Christ, the Son of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment