Glory of the Latter House
Overview
- Testament: Old
- Book: Haggai
- Chapters: Haggai 2:1-9
- Summary: Haggai encourages the disheartened builders who remember Solomon’s temple by declaring that the glory of the latter house shall exceed the former, because the LORD will shake the nations and fill it with his presence.
Details
Just over a month after construction on the second temple resumed, Haggai received a second oracle, addressed to those in the community old enough to remember the first temple—the elders who had seen Solomon’s house before its destruction in 586 BC. The question underlying the oracle is plain: compared to what was, this rebuilt temple looks like nothing. “Who is left 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?” Discouragement was natural. The second temple, built by returned exiles with limited resources under political constraint, could not match the grandeur of Solomon’s work.
God’s answer is a direct command to courage: “Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts.” The threefold “be strong” echoes the language of Joshua’s commissioning (Joshua 1:6-9), and the grounding of that courage is identical: not in the grandeur of human effort but in the presence of the LORD. This is followed by a reminder of the Exodus covenant: the spirit that God placed among his people when they came out of Egypt remains with them still.
The climax of the oracle is the promise of a universal shaking and a superlative glory: “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; 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.” The phrase “desire of all nations” has been interpreted messianically throughout church history—a reference to the one toward whom all nations’ longing ultimately points. The oracle closes with its most striking assertion: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts.” This appears paradoxical until it is understood that the “glory” in view is not architectural grandeur but the presence of the LORD himself—which, in Christian reading, was fulfilled when Jesus of Nazareth entered the second temple courts.
Key People Involved
- Haggai — the prophet who delivered this word of encouragement
- Zerubbabel — the civil governor addressed in the oracle
- Jeshua — the high priest (referred to as Joshua son of Josedech) addressed alongside Zerubbabel
Key Places
- Jerusalem (Zion) — site of the temple under construction
Important Verses
“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.” — Haggai 2:9
“Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 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.” — Haggai 2:6-7
Cross-References
- Call to Build the Temple — Haggai 1; the rebuke and resumption of building that precedes this oracle
- Hebrews 12:26-27 — the author of Hebrews cites the “shaking of heaven and earth” from Haggai 2:6
- Night Visions of Zechariah — Zechariah’s companion ministry to the same building community
- Joshua the High Priest Clothed — Zechariah 3; the high priest Jeshua/Joshua is also the subject of a companion vision