HAGGAI 2 (NOTES OF A READING)
[p. 477] HAGGAI 2 (NOTES OF A READING)
CAC “Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?” (verse 3). This was a subtle discouragement because it minimised the work of God by recalling the former glory of the house. If we look at things with the natural eye we get away from God. Three weeks after recommencing they had been discouraged from within. There is the danger not to see what God is reviving. We bring all that is collected formerly into the present. It is the same house. God has in no wise departed from His original thought and in no wise diminished it. If two stones are there they can be placed together in the glory of God’s house. God’s thoughts are no less than in Solomon’s time.
What are we recovered to? It is to the glory of the house. It is a glorious house, and God’s thought is increased glory. This we need to have before us in all our prayers, meetings, etc. We want to bring more glory into the house. The widow woman cast all into the treasury of the house and Christ added to that widow’s heart all the glory of the original house, though it was in the hands of evil men.
God had not departed from His covenant which He made when they came out of Egypt. “Ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”. ‘My word remains among you’, God tells them, and the word concerning the house remains among us — every word remains. It is still in the heart of God and in the word. “The word ..., and my Spirit, remain among you: fear ye not”. God says, ‘I have not gone away from it, in company with the Spirit’.
Rem So the “shaking” takes place to bring God’s thought of the house to completion.
CAC Yes, God is shaking everything to get material for the house. He shakes the nations to get everything that is precious amongst them for material for the house. That is how they are thinking about it in heaven, I am quite certain. God is working so that Christ may become the signet in His hand for impression upon all. I do not think it will stop for a minute till Christ comes, so that the impress of God may be upon everything. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts”. He claims everything that is of value in this world for Himself. ‘I will not leave a bit of it out, I want all of it for My house’. The preciousness is all with the saints. “The desire of all nations”, of course, is Christ. We want to get into the secret of God’s mind. The work of God makes Christ precious in hearts, so that He has become the Object of desire. Well, every bit of that is wanted for His house. We ought to understand these things. It was for the remnant. Either we are going on with glory, or with uncleanness, every one of us — there is nothing between the two. “I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts”. It is the only power. If God is not with us, we have none.
Rem What place has peace (verse 9)?
CAC It looks on to the full millennial result, but in principle these conditions will be sure to bring in peace. Then He loves to be with His people immediately they turn their attention towards what is before Him. That is what we want above everything else — God dwelling with us. That is why God took them out of Egypt — the world.
Rem It clearly suggests these are our closing moments and if we lose this, we lose it altogether.
CAC The impress of glory should be on our prayers and everything. God’s thought is that we should move on from glory to glory. See how the glory has increased in the lifetime of some of us. Each one of us should contribute glory. So we should earnestly cultivate every apprehension of Christ that we get.
Rem “But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory”.
CAC Yes, that is how the glory comes into the house. So we want to get away from all that is formal and stereotyped in the house of God. We should all make room and time for individual exercise in the knowledge of Christ, and then it comes into the house.
Rem In Romans 8, as having the spirit we are glorified.
CAC All this comes into our range (Haggai 2) showing how the word of God is living. It is more for us than for them. It was written for us and not for them. Silver and gold are what the saints are as redeemed and as in new creation — all claimed for the house. God’s chief interest is in the valuables in the world, and He has given us light to see what He is after.
Then the next prophetic word is a warning that we may take on features of uncleanness in contrast to glory. There is nothing but that outside the realm of glory. The Christian profession is unclean in the sight of God. There never was more boastfulness there in a certain way, but then where are the precious things, the oil, wine, pomegranate, etc? “Buy”, the things are to be had if you want them.
Rem “Buy the truth and sell it not”.
CAC These two sections are most important to us here in T. — there is the ever-increasing glory, and if we deviate from that we shall fall into uncleanness. It is easier for defilement to be transmitted than holiness, which is a serious consideration. We should maintain strict separation from the uncleanness in Christendom. “Touch not what is unclean”, Paul says (2 Corinthians 6: 17).
The final word is really addressed to Christ. Here it comes twice in one day. There is a fresh start — “From this day will I bless you”, showing that God takes account of the very day when there is a movement towards Him and His house. As long as our concerns are before us, we are under a curse — but then, “From this day will I bless you” (verse 19).
Rem He sets Himself to bless at once.
CAC There had been several fresh moves and they subsided. This is about the fourth move, but He takes account of it and says, “From this day will I bless you”. No assembly can be beyond the state of the individuals in it.
There will be fruitfulness in the blessing instead of no joy in the heart. How many saints in T. know what that is? If we are not supremely happy we ought to ask the reason, search out the reason why perhaps there are not fifty but twenty measures, and consider the perfect fairness of God’s ways with us. The sooner we get at the reason the better. “Consider” is really, ‘Set your heart on it’. The closing prophetic word shows God’s great thought of putting the impress of Christ on everything, for Zerubbabel is evidently a type of Christ. God’s thought is that every human being should carry the impress of Christ. Tribulation days will be tremendous shaking, our days are only a shadow of it. Personal discipline in shaking is to make room for Christ. God would not take away anything from us without giving something better. How could any man regret losing everything, if he had more of Christ instead? Paul gave up voluntarily, so did not want discipline on that line.
Rem “And his name is on their foreheads” (Revelation 22: 4).