Haggai 2:5 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

According to the word that I covenanted— Houbigant begins this verse with the last clause of the fourth, For I, saith the Lord of Hosts, will bring to you that which I covenanted with you, when ye came out of Egypt; and my Spirit shall remain with you: fear ye not. What was that covenant? says Bishop Warburton;—that Israel should be his people, and he be their God and king. Therefore, it cannot mean barely that he would be their God, and they should be his people; for this was but part of the covenant; nor can it mean that they should be conducted by an extraordinary providence as at their coming out of Egypt, and during the first periods of the theocracy; for this was but the effect of the covenant; and besides, we know that that dispensation and providence soon ceased after the re-establishment. The meaning therefore must be, that he would still continue their king as well as God; yet at the same time, when this theocracy was restored, it was both fit, on account of its dignity, and necessary for the people's assurance, that it should be attended with some unusual display of the divine favour: accordingly, prophets were raised up, and an extraordinary providence for some time administered, as appears from many places in these prophets. See Haggai, Haggai 1:6; Haggai 1:11; Haggai 2:16; Haggai 2:19. Zechariah 8:12. Malachi 3:10-11 and Div. Leg. book 5: sect. 3.