The second oracle of Haggai came to him on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, or the Feast of Booths. This took place in the seventh month after the people had “gathered in the fruit of [their] labors from the field” and from their “threshing floor and from [their] winepress”; all of Israel was to rejoice in this feast (Ex. 23:16; Deut. 16:13). It began on a sabbath day, a day of rest. There were required sacrifices for each of the eight days of this feast. During this time, the people were to live in booths or stick-structure tabernacles as a reminder that the Lord made them dwell in tents in the wilderness after He had brought them out of Egypt (Lev. 23:42-3). On the eighth day, Israel was required to set aside as a sabbath rest, and also to call a solemn assembly. (This idea of a solemn assembly is also spoken about in the prophecies of Joel. The second chapter in particular speaking of the Day of the Lord has a lot of parallels to Haggai 2.)
In Haggai 2, God speaks not of bringing in the agricultural harvest, but of shaking the nations, and bringing in or ‘ingathering’ the treasure of the nations. This shaking has overtones to the activity of a threshing floor, which, along with winepress imagery, was a picture of judgment. Isaiah 63:2 and Revelation 19:15 state that Christ tread the winepress alone; Revelation14:19 highlights that the winepress of God’s wrath was tread outside of the city, paralleling Jesus’ death on Golgotha (cf. Heb.13:13). It was there that the ultimate Sacrifice for sin was made, also making a way of salvation available for the true Israel to be gathered into heaven.
The requirement to live in booths for this feast week was to remind Israel of God’s deliverance from their oppression in Egypt (again, with salvific implications; cf. Deut. 5:15). Interestingly, in Leviticus specific reference is made to native Israelites to dwell in these tabernacles, making a degree of separation already to a “true Israel”. Of course, these booths were also representative of the wilderness tabernacle and God’s presence going with His people. This reminder of God’s presence and provision in Egypt is also referenced in Haggai 2:5.
God commands the post-exilic Israelites not to fear, because He is with them, reiterating His covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen.22:17-18, 26:3-4, 28:14-15); the promise to bless all nations through them is also picked up on in Haggai 2:7. These promises are repeated specifically to Joshua and Israel just before entering Canaan, and throughout Israel’s history (Deut 31:6, Josh 1:5).
Further, God promises that His Spirit would be with them. In Ezekiel 36, God promises to give His people a new heart, and a new spirit- His Spirit (vv.26-7). Joel, in chapter 2, also appeals to the people to rend their hearts not their clothes, and prophesies that God will pour out His Spirit on His people (vv. 13; 28; cf. Acts 2). Jesus Himself makes this promise of sending His Spirit to dwell with His people (John 14: 25-6).
As a highlight to this passage, the temple that is being rebuilt is reflective of something much better that is coming. The temple that was to come is proclaimed to be more glorious than the first (Hag. 2:9). Solomon’s temple was destroyed according to the word of the Lord that came to Solomon after the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. God said the temple would be cast out of His sight if the people of Israel turned their back on him and served other gods (1Chron 7:21-22). Thus the rebuilding of the temple and the reestablishment of the temple worship was a visible sign of the reiteration of God’s promises to His people which He affirmed with the words, “I am with you” (Hag. 2:4).
Further, the rebuilding of the temple displays resurrection imagery. Jesus refers to himself as the temple that would be destroyed and raised in three days (John 2:19). The greatest part of the coming of a greater temple glory is then pictured in the glory of the ascended and glorified Christ. Throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews, the temple and the ceremonial and sacrificial systems that had been in place in Israel are demonstrated to have been mere shadows of greater heavenly realities. Chapter 9 speaks in much detail comparing the earthly temple its heavenly counterpart after which the tabernacle was patterned. Jesus entered into the Most Holy Place, that is, into the throne room of God in heaven itself, to present His sacrifice on our behalf before God.
The promise of the Spirit addressed above is interlinked to the temple imagery also. In John 7, Jesus proclaims that whoever believes in Him would have a river of living water flow out of his heart. This image of the fountain of living water is written about again by John in the book of Revelation 22.
Actually, this apocalyptic book deals extensively with the heavenly temple, the pinnacle of its existence being the True Temple, the LORD God Almighty and the Lamb. Here, there is no need of sun, moon, or lamp, because the glory of God illuminates it (Rev. 21:22-23). Thus, the shekinah glory that filled the tabernacle in the wilderness, and filled the temple in Jerusalem on the day of its dedication, are mere representations of the ultimate glory we as God’s people will witness one day with Him in heaven.
In this place there will be peace- a true day of Sabbath rest as Hebrews 4 speak about. The eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles had not yet come for the people to whom Haggai was proclaiming these words of God. Therefore, there was still work to be done. The day of rest, and the solemn assembly, was yet to come!
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