Haggai 2:9

It is important to read the ninth verse in the right way, as our Authorized Version is incorrect. The Hebrew does not say, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former." It says, "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former." The house of course is the temple. The visible glory once lived in the former house. Greater glory is coming, on the day when He appears. With His coming and that restoration, He will give peace.

The ordinary rendering is not only weaker, but confusing. It gives the idea that we now hear of one house, now of two. The true version makes verse 9 agree completely with verse 3... The balance is restored at once when we hear the prophet say, "The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former … and in this place I will give peace." It is the same house in God's mind, as it is the same place. It may be defiled, or even torn down to its foundations and rebuilt again and again. Still it keeps the mark of oneness that the inspiring Spirit stamps on it.

Solomon's Temple was destroyed long ago, and other buildings have taken its place. But Haggai 2:9 teaches us that in God's sight the house has been one all along... Even the Temple that Herod built to glorify himself, the Lord Jesus called "My Father's house" (John 2:16). Perhaps even more striking, the Temple where the Man of Sin will sit carries the name "the Temple of God" in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1.

This assures us that the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem; Ezekiel even gives its plan and measurements. That rebuilt house — one in God's mind with the house the exiles were building — is the house that will be filled with glory. God has always filled HIS house with glory. He filled the tabernacle put up in the wilderness (Ex. 40), the temple in the kingdom (2 Chr. 5:14), the church at Pentecost (Acts 2); and the last house built on earth will be no exception. But what is the "glory"? It is the Lord's own presence — the sign of which was the cloud... For the glory of the Lord is the display of what He is — whether seen with the eyes or seen by faith — the sum and excellence of all His attributes.

God will fill it with more glory at the end than at the beginning, and the peace of the LORD Himself will have its home there. This will happen in the last days. He who will fill it with glory has indeed come. Yet even while He was making eternal peace for our souls, the world was in such a state that He had to say to the people, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." When He has shaken all nations, He will come in His glory and set peace in the earth.

Some give the name Jerusalem as 'the foundation of peace,' others as 'the possession of peace.' Sadly, its history has been anything but peaceful. But Haggai 2:9 is still to be fulfilled: "in this place I will give peace" — surely pointing to the meaning of the name.

Their present building may be far poorer than Solomon's, but it is linked to one that will surpass Solomon's. The cloud of glory may not fill their present temple, but it is linked to one that even greater glory will fill... Haggai treats the temple of their "day of small things" (Zech. 4:10) as one with the glory-filled temple of the coming kingdom. So he lifts their present work to a very high level.