There are 4 exhortations of Haggai. In the previous sermon, the 1st exhortation was discussed; this sermon will cover the 2nd.

Recap of the 1st exhortation
King Cyrus allowed the people to return to Israel to rebuild the temple in 538BC. About 40,000 people returned to the land of Israel; they began the work of rebuilding the temple (Ezra 1-3). When they laid the foundations of the temple, the Bible records that some of the people who had seen the old temple wept because the rebuilding of the temple meant they could worship again. But 16 years later (520BC, 2nd year of King Darius), the word of the Lord came to Haggai. He rebuked the people, “Why does the temple lie in ruins? Why have you not rebuilt it even though over a decade has passed? It should’ve been completed by now. Why is the temple still not rebuilt?” Was it because they wanted the temple to be even grander which made the completion slower? This wasn’t the case. The people faced many obstacles in the rebuilding work; they might have been willing in spirit but lacked the strength to do so. Facing so many attacks, it would’ve been difficult to continue rebuilding the temple. But Haggai didn’t rebuke them for this. God would understand if they weren’t able to rebuild the temple due to obstacles.

The real reason the temple was still not rebuilt was because the people were busy improving their own lives and houses. Haggai rebuked them for dwelling in panelled houses, in other words, grand houses. God punished them by having much but bringing in little; they managed to put a lot in their sacks but they had holes. This was to remind them they had not built the temple. Even though the people managed to complete their panelled houses, they didn’t realise they were labouring hard but achieving little because God was trying to remind them of the un-rebuilt temple. Haggai had to encourage the people to work for the Lord once again. This happened on the 1st day of the 6th month of the 2nd year of king Darius.

2nd exhortation
Hag 2:1-9
The word of God came to Haggai for the second time. This was on the 21st day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of king Darius. It was about a month after the 1st exhortation. We don’t know if the people began the work immediately after hearing the 1st exhortation. But the word of God came again to encourage the people. This time the encouragement was towards Zerubbabel and Joshua (and of course the people as well). It told them of the current situation; it told them to remember the temple. “Who is left among those who have seen the old temple?” Perhaps a few were left. While the rest had not seen but only heard of it. In their hearts, the temple of God was a glorious thing. Now God asked the people to take a look, can the temple you’re building now be compared to the temple of old? Right now you may see there’s no glory in it. The foundation was already laid, but nothing was laid above it. It looked like a work in progress, so they wouldn’t be able to see any glory in it. It looked like nothing. But God’s encouragement in v9 told them the glory of the latter temple would be greater than the former. This was very encouraging. “The place that now looks like nothing will become very glorious!” This would be hard for the people to imagine after 16 years of no progress. Even if the work was restarted, not many people may join in. Furthermore, there might still be obstacles. When King Cyrus issued the decree for the people to return, the people of the land knew of it and opposed the rebuilding work. So even if they restarted the work, they would likely meet with obstacles. They may think even if they restarted, they’d stop again. But the word of God is as such: continue the work because the glory of the latter temple would be greater than the former.

But practically speaking, what should they do when facing all these obstacles? We can see how Haggai encouraged them in v4 “Yet now be strong”. Why would they be strong? “Because I am with you” God told them to continue the work; He would be with them and they would be strong. In v5, the Lord reminded them He would be with them just as He was with them when they came out of Egypt, He made a covenant with them in the wilderness and His spirit was with them. When they left Egypt, they were pursued by soldiers but God solved the problem for them by parting the Red Sea. While in the wilderness, they faced many difficulties too. But God solved their problems one by one, because His spirit was among them. Just as His spirit was with the people in the wilderness, His spirit would also be among the people then. This was a very strong encouragement to the people then. When they put in the effort to rebuild the temple, they built it well because they knew God was with them. They didn’t need to be too worried about what kinds of obstacles they would face.

Ezra 6:15
In the 6th year of king Darius, the temple was rebuilt. It was complete within 4-5 years! This encouragement gave the people hope.

Indeed, when rebuilding the temple, we need hope. Because at times we really face difficulties. Especially for the Israelites: they were moved by the spirit of God to return to Israel to rebuild the temple. They did start the work but they stopped because they faced so many difficulties. They didn’t stop the work because they wanted to build their own houses up; it was because they faced all the obstacles that they turned to build their own houses up. They might have asked, “Where is the spirit of God? Why do we face so many difficulties in the work?” They were very disheartened and didn’t see the spirit of God working with them. They might have thought: What’s the difference between asking me to restart the work now and asking me to return at the beginning? It would’ve been harder for them to restart than to have even begun. But God encouraged them through prophet Haggai. God reminded them He was with them for 16 years but they didn’t realise it. God didn’t bless them but He showed He was in their midst. God was always with them. He gave them the hope that the latter temple would be more glorious than the former temple. Upon hearing this encouragement, the people of Israel were moved in their hearts to restart the work. The temple was hence rebuilt within 4-5 years.

We can be likewise encouraged. We have to rebuild the church in the last days. The apostolic church became corrupted. Will our church today also become corrupted? Will our church actually be as glorious as described in the Bible? Or will we be like the apostolic church who decays after a while and the church is rebuilt by someone else? Think about the encouragement of Haggai. It was given to Haggai but it’s meant to be fulfilled even in our times today. We are the latter temple that’s more glorious and greater than the former. We must believe and carry this hope in us. But how do we know the latter temple refers to us?

Hag 2:6-9
Once more I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. I will shake all nations and the desire/treasure of all nations shall come.

Haggai was actually talking about when Jesus comes. v6 refers to when God made a covenant with people on Mount Sinai.

Exo 19:16-19
The word of God shook the heavens and the earth, and the people were full of fear when they saw this. At this time God gave them the 10 commandments and established His covenant.

In Haggai, it says God will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. This is saying God would make a new covenant. Because the first time this happened, God made a covenant with them. Now God would shake the heavens and earth, the sea and dry land again; He would establish another covenant with them that would shake all nations. All nations would come to the desire of all nations. This means all the nations will come to the new temple. What this means is that the new covenant won’t just include the people of Israel but all the peoples of the earth. All the people who believe in Jesus will be this treasure; all these treasure will come to the desire of all nations. This would make the temple glorious as it would be full of all the treasure of all nations. If the treasury has the treasure of all the nations, it would be glorious. To the Kingdom of God, the treasure is the people. We are the treasure that has been shaken from all nations. This was fulfilled when Jesus came.

The church is going to be more glorious than the temple Zerubbabel built because it gives glory to all nations and not just the Jews. Whoever comes to this place will receive peace. Today we belong to the temple of the last days. For us in the true church, we are at the tail end of the last days because we’re the temple built by the Holy Spirit of the latter rain. There is no other latter rain. We hence have to build the temple to be even more glorious than the former one.

Haggai had to encourage the people to continue to rebuild the temple. Today we are the people being asked to rebuild the temple to be more glorious than the former one. We should have this understanding and hope so we have the motivation to build the temple. Right now we may think: We say we’re supposed to be a glorious church but where is the glory? We’re still not known throughout the world. When we search ‘baptism’, True Jesus Church is not one of the top results. We don’t have a web presence unless we search the words ‘True Jesus Church’ directly. It seems the True Jesus Church just says things to make ourselves feel good. But remember how Haggai encouraged the people. The spirit of God was with them. The spirit of God is with us too. Do what we can do now. We may not see ourselves as a treasure but we are seen as a treasure in God’s eyes. We may think: I’m not highly educated, what can I do? But God does not look at educational achievements. If we all have a heart that wants to worship God, God esteems it. Such a heart will be able to build this temple up. We would put in effort to spread the gospel to others and build the church up.

Today although it may seem our church is not very glorious, we must have this hope. As long as we put in the effort to work now, holding on to hope, not being lazy, don’t be like the people who gave up after facing obstacles and busied themselves with their own matters. Offer ourselves up to build this church up. God will be with us to help us.