Haggai 2:6

For thus saith the Lord of hosts;.... For the further encouragement of the builders of the temple, they are told, from the Lord of hosts, that in a little time, when such circumstances should meet as

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; Yet once, it is a little while - or, '(it is) yet a

Yet once; after many repetitions and confirmations of the new covenant, one more repetition, and but one more, rests to be made. It is a little while; comparatively it was little; though five hundred and seventeen years from the second of Darius Hystaspes to the incarnation of Christ, a long time to us, who are short-lived, and short-sighted, but a little time compared with that between the first promise to Adam and Christ’ s coming; or take any other shorter period, as between Abraham or David and Christ, this last period is short, a little while. I will shake; whether it be metaphorical or literal, it was verified at the time of Christ’ s coming into the world. After the return of the captivity, what with the commotions among the Grecians, Persians, and Romans, which began soon after this time, (the prophet points at this,) it was metaphorically fulfilled, all states were shaken either with invasions from abroad, or intestine dissensions among themselves: literally it was fulfilled by prodigies, and earthquakes, &c., as some have observed and recounted, at the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. The heavens; either states and governments of the world, or church affairs, which in Scripture are called the heavens; or the material heavens, and the firmament. The earth, which, either figuratively or literally taken, will agree well with the text, and the history of times. The sea; one part of that which is called earth, this lower globe. The dry land, the other part of this inferior world; and both may, as former words, be literally or figuratively taken, and which better I do not undertake to determine.

Haggai 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land];Ver. 6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts] i.e. The three persons in Trinity, as appeareth by the note on the former verse. Howbeit, the author to the Hebrews, Hebrews 12:25-26, applieth the words to Christ; whence observe that Christ is Lord of hosts and God Almighty; even the same second person that is called haddabhar, the Word, in the former verse, is very God. John 1:3 cf. Colossians 1:14; Colossians 1:16 John 1:9 cf. John 8:12 John 1:11 cf. Acts 3:13-15. See those coherencies of sentences, John 9:3-4; John 11:4; John 12:39-40, besides the apostle’ s argument, Hebrews 1:4. That one Gospel written by St John, who was therefore called the Divine, by an excellency (as afterwards Nazianzen also was), because he doth professedly assert and vindicate the Divinity of Christ (ever strongly impugned by the devil and his agents, those odious apostates and heretics ancient and modern; and no wonder, for it is the rock, Matthew 16:18), setting him forth, 1. As co-essential to the Father, his only begotten Son, John 1:14. One with the Father in essence and power, John 10:30; John 10:38; John 14:23 2. As having the incommunicable names and attributes of God, John 8:58; John 20:28. Eternity, John 1:1; John 17:5, infiniteness, John 3:18, omniscience, John 2:24; John 21:22 3. As doing the works of God, such as are creation, John 1:3, conservation, John 5:17, miracles, &c. 4. As taking to himself divine worship, John 9:38; John 20:28; John 14:1. This truth men must hold fast as their lives, and be rooted in it; getting strong reasons for what they believe. The second ground wanted depth of earth; the seed was good and the earth was good, but there was not enough of it; therefore the heat of the sun scorched it up. Christ is here called the Lord of hosts, and the Lord of glory, Isaiah 6:1 cf. John 12:41 James 2:1. Yet once, it is a little while, &c.] Adhuc unum pusillum. This little little while, this inch of time, was the better part of 500 years, viz. till Christ came in the flesh, Hebrews 12:26, the Jewish doctors say no less. A long time to us is but a little while to God. A thousand years is but as one day to the Ancient of days. His prophets also, being lifted up in spirit to the consideration of eternity, count and call all times (as indeed they are in comparison) moments, and points of time: Punctum est quod vivimus, et puncto minus, could the poet say. What is that to the infinite? said a certain nobleman of this land to one, discoursing of an incident matter very considerable, but was taken off with this quick interrogation. So say we to ourselves, when under any affliction, we begin to think long of God’ s coming to deliver us.

(6) Yet once, it is a little while.—The construction is very difficult. The best rendering appears to be, Yet one season more (supplying êth before achath), it is but a little while, and, &c. The meaning of these clauses is then that given by Keil—viz., “that the period between the present and the predicted great change of the world will be but one period—i.e., one uniform epoch—and that this epoch will be a brief one.” The LXX. (followed in Hebrews 12:27) omits the words “it is a little while” altogether, and so is enabled to render “I will yet shake once” (i.e., one single time, and one only), a rendering which, if we retain those words, is apparently impossible. The fact is, the original passage here, as in other cases, must be treated without deference to its meaning when interwoven in New Testament argument. There is yet to be an interval of time, of limited duration, and then shall come a new era, when the glory of God’s presence shall be manifested more fully and extensively. Notwithstanding its intimate connection with the Jewish Temple (Haggai 2:7; Haggai 2:9), this new dispensation may well be regarded as that of the Messiah, for Malachi in like manner connects His self-manifestation with the Temple. (Comp. Malachi 3:1, and see our Introduction, § 2.) Without pretending to find a fulfilment of all details, we may regard the prophet’s anticipations as sufficiently realised when the Saviour’s Advent introduced a dispensation which surpassed in glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:7-11) that of Moses, and which extended its promises to the Gentiles. When Haggai speaks here and in Haggai 2:22 of commotions of nature ushering in this new revelation, he speaks according to the usage of the Hebrew poets, by whom Divine interposition is frequently depicted in colouring borrowed from the incidents of the Exodus period. (See Habakkuk 3; Psalms 18:7-15, Psalms 93, 97) If the words are to be pressed, their fulfilment at Christ’s coming must be searched for rather in the moral than the physical sphere, in changes effected in the human heart (comp. Luke 3:5) rather than on the face of nature.

Verse 6. Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens] When the law was given on Mount Sinai, there was an earthquake that shook the whole mountain, Exodus 19:18. "The political or religious revolutions which were to be effected in the world, or both, are here," says Abp. Newcome, "referred to; compare Exodus 2:21-22; Matthew 24:29; Hebrews 12:26-28. The political ones began in the overthrow of the Persian monarchy by Alexander, within two centuries after this prediction; and if the Messiah's kingdom be meant, which is my opinion, this was erected in somewhat more than five centuries after the second year of Darius; a short period of time when compared with that which elapsed from the creation to the giving of the law, or from the giving of the law to the coming of the Messiah's kingdom. It must be understood that the word אחת achath, once, has a clear sense, if understood of the evangelical age; for many political revolutions succeeded, as the conquest of Darius Codomanus, and the various fortunes of Alexander's successors; but only one great and final religious revolution." - Newcome.

Ch. Haggai 2:1-9. The Second Prophecy The first prophecy had been one of severe rebuke and earnest call to duty. The second is one of encouragement to those, who having promptly obeyed the first, were in danger of being depressed and disappointed by the comparative meagreness and unworthiness of the results of their labours. When the foundations of the second Temple were laid some years before this, we read of the distress which its character and dimensions occasioned, to those of the returned captives who were old enough to remember the former Temple in its glory. The joyous shouts of the younger portion of the assembly, who rejoiced to see the sanctuary of their faith restored, blended strangely with the sad lamentations of their elders, who mourned over the departed splendour of the past. Now that a month of vigorous work was beginning to tell, and the contrast which had been apparent even in the foundations stood out in bolder relief in the rising walls of the edifice; now that many an “ancient man,” laudator temporis acti, had passed his disparaging comment on each new feature of the growing structure, and told with fond regret of the “exceeding magnifical” house (1 Chronicles 22:5) that had once been there, the danger of dejection and discouragement on the part of the people was increased. With the gracious design of counteracting this, Haggai is directed to deliver a prophecy, which stimulates them to carry on and complete their undertaking, not only by the assurance of the divine presence and favour, but by the promise that in God’s good time that house, so mean and despised, should be filled with a glory that should exceed that of Solomon’s Temple in the days of its greatest magnificence.

Yet once, it is a little while - This, the rendering of Paul to the Hebrews, is alone grammatical .

Haggai 2:6-9 expand the promise of Hag 2:4-5. Jehovah will manifest his presence and power by a great shaking of nature and of the nations of the earth (6, 7a); as a result the nations will recognize