After Judean captives had returned home from Babylon,
The Lord sent Haggai to folks who were living in delusions,
To give all those in Jerusalem a project to work on:
‘I see you’re comfy in your houses, while Mine lies in ruins!’ 1
(Ouch! What a wake-up call~)
His GREAT Temple had been totally destroyed,
During Babylon’s invasion decades earlier,
And of thoughts to rebuild it, folks were devoid,
Only thinking how they could make their homes cozier. 2
(To The Lord, selfish gall~)
He’d sent a minor drought to get their attention,
But apparently, nobody ‘connected-the-dots’!
So, He sent Haggai to aid their comprehension.
And to his message, all the folks agreed …on the spot!!!
(Blessings of a timely word~)
A month later, Haggai returned with a spectacular word!
The Lord knew folks were disheartened thinking of the first temple,
To think their group of former captives could match that, was ABSURD!!!
Thus, He sent them a blissful promise, yet for others, dreadful!
(Thoughts turned? Desires to build stirred?)
‘The glory of this latter one shall be greater than the first!
And in this place, I will give peace.
In a little while, once more, I’ll shake the heavens and the Earth,
I’ll shake all nations! In this place, My Glory they’ll seek.’ 3
(Imbedded prophecies, blurred??)
This is about The Lord’s two visits to Earth, our hearts to win:
First, to a virgin, born a babe, from Heaven-to-Earth transferred,
To become The Lamb of God, sent to pay the price for our sin.
Next, as The Lord God, global Monarch. Righteousness then fostered.
(To you, now clear?)
Did workers hearing this prophecy think, presumptively,
‘This place’ referred to the temple they were building,
Rather than to its location, geographically??
Ahaa! A hint that a third temple will be arriving! 4
(To that, some jeer!!)
In all He did, and still does today,
He’s seeking a home in which to stay.
He sought a building in BC days.
AD, He seeks YoU in whom to stay.
(Your life, His temple~)
As Babylon’s remnant captives denied His Spirit rest,
Perfecting their homes long before rebuilding His temple,
Friend, today, are you also failing His similar test:
Reject His salvation, and at His judgments, don’t tremble??
(Don’t think that’s futile!)
If so, to you His Spirit is …‘homeless’,
Denied from giving you eternal Grace He died to give,
Leaving you infected with sin’s virus,
All because you’re denying Him your heart in which to live.
(Of this, beware~)
One day, when as promised, He shakes the heavens and Earth,
He says ALL mountains and EVERY wall will …FALL DOWN!!!
This will be a global phenomenon, in history, it's not the FIRST,
Then to Him, tribulation remnants will BOW DOWN!!! 5
(Might you be there?)
Homeless… folks surviving His judgments, denying Him a home.
Homelessness… signaling the of the start of His Millennial Reign.
Homeless… The Lord’s payback to them for rejecting His shalom.
Homelessness… No indication of how long …this will sustain.
(Before Him, they’ll tremble!!!)
It’s TRUE. In all He did, and still does today,
He is seeking a home in which to enter, rest and flourish.
Learn the lesson those folks learned in Haggai’s day!!
Embrace His salvation, then in righteousness, be nourished. 6
(Make your life, His temple~)
----------
1 See: Haggai chapter 1
2 The fascinating story of King Solomon’s temple is in 1 Kings chapters 6-8. See the many references there are to ‘gold’! Thousands of years later, The Lord sent a Babylonian king to invade Judah and destroy both Jerusalem and the temple because of folks’ un-repented, gross sinfulness. A remnant group was captured to be slaves in Babylon for 70 years.
3 See: Haggai 2:1-9. Jesus’ physical presence in the second temple ‘greatly enhanced’ its GLORY!
4 The Lord’s reference to ‘this place’ is one of many promises that the location of the first and second Jewish temples will be the same, EXACT geographical location of His THIRD temple, from which He will rule over the entire world with a ‘rod of iron’ for a thousand years. His rule will be facilitated by/with His tried and proven, then resurrected, immortal saints from across the previous ages of time. The Bible reveals seven ‘ages’ of and for humanity: (1) pre-flood, (2) post-flood/pre-cross, (3) post-cross (Church Age), (4) tribulation period, (5) Millennial Reign, (6) post-Millennial Reign, and (7) eternity. For more on this rich topic, search this blog for ‘Millennial Reign’. NB: ‘This place’ to which The Lord referred has, for over 1,300 years, been the site of the Al Aqsa Muslim mosque in Jerusalem.
5 See: Global Earthquake (Series) and also Ezekiel 38, depicting the 1st War of Gog and Magog, predicted to occur near the end of the great tribulation judgments, before the Armageddon War that will end the great tribulation and the 4th age of history. See Zechariah 14:12 for how this first war will end. These topics are discussed extensively in this blog. Search for key words that may be of interest.
PONDER THIS: The Lord's strategic choice of words, '...once more', in Haggai 2:6, should be instructive/pedagogic to us all. I initially missed it, hence this correction: The first time He shook the heavens and the Earth must have been in the global flood. Not one wall on Earth survived, that's for sure. Earth cracked open and the fountains of 'the deep' opened up. Continents were possibly formed to swallow all that water, creating post-flood oceans .
6 See: Prayer of Salvation (Poem)
