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article. All we can do is to indicate the teaching which the structure
emphasizes.
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1 Chron. 28 David
Command to build (10).
Writing (19)
The Lord be with thee (20).
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2 Chron. 26.
Uzziah
Sacrilege.
A leper
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2 Chron. 36.
Cyrus
Charge to build. Writing
The Lord be with him (22,23).
The words 'Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's
message' (1:13) strike a note that will find a response in the hearts of
those who appreciate the distinction known as dispensational truth. These
words could be applied to 'Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles' where 'the messenger' and 'the message' are closely inter -related,
as is evident from 1 Timothy 2:6,7,
'A testimony in its own peculiar season, whereunto I am ordained a
preacher' (Author's translation).
A month later, the word of the Lord came by the prophet who called
attention to the contrast that was evident, between the glory of the first
house and the insignificance of this the rebuilt house of the remnant:
'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?' (2:3).
This prophecy, uttered in the seventh month, is made to revolve around
the comparative glory of the two houses, and reveals that, even though
Solomon's temple was 'exceedingly magnifical', and the house built by the
returned exiles was 'in comparison of it as nothing', yet 'the glory of this
latter house shall be greater than of the former' for 'The Desire Of All
Nations shall come' and in that place the Lord said 'I will give peace' (2:1
-9). The Authorized Version translation 'the glory of this latter house' is,
however, misleading, for the Saviour Himself came to Herod's temple, and will
come again to the yet future Millennial temple (Ezek. 48). The Revised
Version reads 'the latter glory of this house' and The Companion Bible reads
'Greater shall be the last glory of this house than the first'. 'This
house', moreover, is used irrespective of the fact that one building had been
destroyed and another built (Hag. 2:3). The 'first glory' of this house will
be as nothing to the 'last glory'.
The prophet now swings over again to the moral condition of the
people. 'So is this people, and so is this nation before Me'. Again they
are called to 'consider' and again the prophet reminds them that the scarcity
under which they suffered, the 'blasting and mildew' that neutralized all the
labour of their hands, was associated with their delay in rebuilding the
Lord's house. 'Consider now,' continued the prophet, 'from this day and
upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day
that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it' (2:18). With