And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms.
The blessing of calamities
These are the concluding words of the prophecies of Haggai. The Old Testament is one continual declaration and snowing form of this truth, that sin, when it has conceived, brings forth death, and all the family of death. On the contrary, the godly, who give themselves up to doing the Lord’s will still find that God blesses them,--with peace; with all manner of spiritual graces; with the light of His countenance; and, may be, with worldly prosperity. Whenever God executes judgment it must be against evil. Nothing but evil can move the wrath of God. Nor does God ever shake, or overthrow, or destroy anything, except by reason of evil. The natural man imagines a God who cares not about the life or death of His creatures, who merely creates them to show forth His power and His skill. This image is altogether different from the true God, as He has revealed Himself to mankind in His Word, and by the incarnation of His only-begotten Son. The true God has no pleasure in the ebb and flow of life and death. He wills life, not death. The only thing God wilts to destroy is sin--not the sinner, but the sin. When He destroys the sinner, it is solely for the sake of the sin. The works of destruction spoken of in the text are part of that warfare which God is continually waging against sin and all manner of evil, and accordingly agree in their spirit and purpose with the barrenness and blasting and mildew sent upon the Israelites, because they had neglected their appointed work of building the house of the Lord. When God takes in hand a work of destruction, it is never purely and entirely a work of destruction. Whenever God executes judgment, mercy is always going along with judgment. Were not this God’s purpose, He would be giving up the victory to the spirit of evil, and death would triumph over life. This then is the end and purpose of Haggai’s prophecy. It speaks of terrible and awful things; but it ends with worlds of comfort and peace. It says that, while the nations around Judea were to be shaken and disturbed by wars and divers disasters, and while many were to perish, Zerubbabel would establish the remnant of God’s people in the land of their fathers; and so, we know, he did. The coming of Zerubbabel, which is spoken of as the coming of the desire of all nations, whereby the house of the Lord was to be filled with glory, was a type of a threefold fulfilment, one of which has already taken place once for all; one of which has been continually taking place ever since, and is continually taking place at this day; and one of which Will take place hereafter: and all these fulfilments are accompained by signs more or less like those foretold in the text, as ordained to attend the coming of Zerubbabel. Thus the coming of Zerubbabel was a type of Christ’s coming in the flesh. Zerubbabel was not really the Desire of all nations, but Christ was. Zerubbabel could not fill God’s house with glory, but Christ did fill it with an infinite, undying, heavenly glory. .. Whenever God has purposed to raise His Church to a higher stage of power and glory, the world has been shaken by the new life which has entered and taken possession of it. The heart of the Christian will not fail when he sees the shaking of the nations, or of the powers of heaven. He will not be troubled or disquieted by fears, as though evil were about to gain victory over good. Our Lord’s promise is, that, from amid the clouds and the storm, the sign of the Son of Man shall come forth with power and great glory. (J. C. Hare, M. A.)
Terrible revolutions
These verses remind us--
I. that the revolutions amongst mankind are sometimes very terrible. Here we read of the “shaking of the heavens and the earth,” the “crash of thrones,” the “destruction of kingdoms,” the “overthrow of chariots,” etc. What the particular revolutions referred to here are, cannot be determined.” Such revolutions imply the existence and prevalence of two antagonistic moral principles in the world--good and evil. These are the Titanic chieftains in all the battles, the elemental forces in all the convulsions of the world. It is truth against error, right against wrong, liberty against thraldom, virtue against vice.
II. That God has to do even with the most terrible of these revolutions. “I will shake the heavens, I will overthrow the throne,” etc. “I will destroy the strength,” etc. Inasmuch
(1) As God is eternally against the false and the wrong and the tyrannic, He may be said to be Author of these revolutions. Inasmuch
(2) As He can prevent them, He may be said to be the Author of these revolutions. He does not originate them, but He permits them. He could annihilate all wicked doers by a volition, He allows them to fight themselves often to death in battling against the right and the true. “The Lord sitteth upon the flood.” He sits in serene majesty, controlling all the fury of the battling forces. He “holds the winds in His fist.”
III. That the good man is safe in the most tremendous revolutions of time. “In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.” What is here said of Zerubbabel suggests three thoughts.
(1) That good men sustain the highest office. Zerubbabel was not only a servant, but a “chosen servant.” He was selected for the work of rebuilding the temple. It suggests
(2) That good men will receive the highest distinction “I will make thee as a signet.” A signet indicates,
(a) Worth. It was a ring with a seal on it, worn on the finger, as an ornament of great value. Good men are elsewhere represented as God’s jewels. A signet indicates,
(b) Authority. The signet of an Eastern monarch was a sign of delegated authority. A good man is invested with the highest authority--the authority to fight against wrong and to promote right, at all times and in every place. It suggests
(3) That goodmen will always be safely kept, Jehovah says this to Zerubbabel. Amidst all evil, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Homilist.)
The safety of God’s people amidst the coming commotions
1. Great political convulsions may be expected in the future, as well as in the past, because the same reason exists for them; the ungodly nature of existing political forms (Haggai 2:21).
2. Wars, revolutions, and tumults of nations are all working out God’s designs of mercy to the world, by means of His Church (Haggai 2:22).
3. Amidst all the convulsions of human history, the people of God are safe, the gates of hell can never prevail against the Church. The past in this respect is prophet of the future (Haggai 2:23).
4. The best protection for any nation, the surest guarantee for its political existence, is a living, working Church in its midst, for as long as the stream of national life carries the vessel in which Christ is carried, that stream shall flow on in safety. Sodom shall stand as long as a righteous Lot is found in it (Haggai 2:23). The general drift of this prophecy by Haggai may now be perceived. His specific work was to urge the rebuilding of the temple. This work was important, because the temple was the seat of the theocracy, and the theocracy was the existing form of the great work of redemption. To erect that, and thus prepare for the reinauguration of the temple-worship, was the great work of the restoration. To urge them to this work, the prophet tears away their subterfuges and excuses shows them how they had already suffered by its neglect; develops to them the real greatness of the work, in spite of its outward littleness, as a necessary link in the great purposes of redemption; and guarantees the safety of the theocratic people amidst all the convulsions that were to come on the earth. All these predictions have been fulfilled to the letter, proving that Haggai was what he claimed to be, a true prophet of Jehovah. (T. V. Moore, D. D.)