Mining the Minors: Haggai (7)

The second chapter of Haggai contains two references to the shaking of heavens and earth, the first in verse 6 and the second in verses 21-22. “For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.” And again, “I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms.”

These promises have far-reaching implications for both Jews and Christians.

Haggai in the New Testament

1/ Hebrews 12:26 quotes Haggai 2:6

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken — that is, things that have been made — in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”

The first reference, the one quoted in Hebrews, gives us a clue how to interpret the second.

In verses 4 and 5 of Haggai 2, the Lord says this: “Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst.” The reference to Israel’s exodus reminds us of the glorious display of divine power at Sinai associated with the inauguration of the covenant with Israel. “On the morning of the third day,” Moses writes, “there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. The whole mountain trembled greatly.” The people stood afar off in terror while the earth in front of them literally shook.

So then, when God says, “Yet once more I will shake”, he reminds us that this sort of cataclysmic shaking has already happened literally and physically on a smaller scale. But here we are told it is not just the earth, sea and dry land (or, as we have it in verse 22, the “throne of kingdoms”, meaning earthly governance), but the heavens themselves that will also be shaken. The whole order of things is to be disrupted, and every nation will be affected. The principalities and powers, the “cosmic powers over this present darkness” who have dominion over the nations of the world, and who are given the title of “prince” in Daniel, will find their authority disrupted and their rule thrown into chaos.

The original shaking of the earth may be literal, but the future shaking of the heavens is probably an unprecedented disruption in the spirit world that will lead to the removal of any force, spiritual person or authority whose influence is inadequate, impermanent and in opposition to the will of God. The Lord will strip such spirit beings of their authority. Perhaps it will be reassigned to others, as the nations will continue to exist and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem. So then, this future shaking of all that has been made will result first in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth, then finally in the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness dwells, though it is doubtful Haggai’s original audience understood the implications of his prophecy to be quite that extensive.

Note that this message came exactly three months after the people of Judah began to rebuild the temple. The “shaking” at Sinai occurred exactly three months after the exodus. It’s hard to imagine that is coincidental.

Haggai was a message to devout Jews. Hebrews is a message not just for Jews under the old covenant, but for Jews who had professed faith in Christ. Those whose allegiance to the Christian faith was in doubt are warned, “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.” The shaking of Sinai is a reminder that the obedience of faith is not a negotiable option. Refuse the warning, and there will be no escape.

The encouraging word to believers is that we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Though God may (and will) disrupt and overturn the authorities of heaven and earth, the believer is always secure in Christ, his future guaranteed. The outcome ought to be that we worship in reverence and awe in view of God’s glory and power.

The reference to shaking the heavens, as interpreted for us in Hebrews, makes it extremely unlikely that any earthly conflict of nations between Haggai’s day and our present era is in view. The battles of Persia, Greece, Rome and subsequent empires too trivial to be mentioned in the book of Daniel are simply inadequate to be the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy.

2/ Revelation 6:12-13 possibly alludes to Haggai 2:6

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.”

The language of Revelation 6 may also contain an allusion to Haggai. The description of the chaos and destruction associated with the opening of the sixth seal has both literal and figurative aspects to it. If the kings of the earth hide themselves in caves and call for the rocks to hide them from the wrath of God and of the Lamb, it’s evident there will be terrifying physical manifestations of God’s power at work in the world toward the end of the great tribulation.

At the same time, not everything in the Revelation 6 passage can reasonably be taken literally. For example, if even a single literal star fell to earth, let alone “the stars of the sky”, the entire planet would be incinerated in a moment. Possibly “stars” [ἀστήρ] in this context refers to smaller heavenly bodies such as comets, meteors or asteroids. (The “star in the east” of Matthew 2 was probably a comet, and Jude refers to “wandering stars”.) Alternatively, a star may be a symbol of authority, as in Joseph’s dream, where the sun, moon and eleven stars — the father of the nation of Israel, his wife and the future heads of Israel’s tribes — bowed down to him. Here, as in Haggai, such authorities may be heavenly, earthly or both.

Of course, we cannot be dogmatic that the Revelation 6 earthquake constitutes the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy. There are four other references to earthquakes in Revelation (chapters 8, 11 and 16), including the greatest earthquake in history, in which Babylon the great will be destroyed and the city of Jerusalem split into three parts.

As with all prophetic passages, a certain quantum of judgment must be reserved.