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The Temple to Remain as Nations Are RockedParadise Restored to Mankind—By Theocracy!
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that it was in the booths that I made the sons of Israel to dwell when I was bringing them out of the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.”—Leviticus 23:33-43; Numbers 29:12-38; Deuteronomy 16:13-17.
3, 4. (a) Over what could those Jews rejoice during that Festival of Ingathering, and how did their dwellings compare with that of Jehovah? (b) Why was it the appropriate occasion for an encouraging message from Jehovah, and how did this message begin?
3 That the repatriated Israelites had much of an ingathering in 520 B.C.E., we have little reason to believe, in view of what the prophet Haggai said in his first prophecy. (Haggai 1:5, 6, 9-11; 2:16, 17) But what they did gather into their garners was because of Jehovah’s mercy and forbearance. On this account they had good cause to rejoice in Jehovah their God for the seven days of the Festival of Ingathering. And, dwelling in the temporary booths as they did during the festival, in and around Jerusalem, they did not then have paneled, well-roofed houses for themselves any more than Jehovah then had a house for his worship at Jerusalem. They had by now done much of the preliminary work toward getting at the rebuilding of the temple again. They needed further encouragement. Tishri 21 being still a festival day, Jerusalem would be thronging with worshipers of Jehovah, including the governor of Judah and all the priesthood, and it would be a fine time for an inspired message to be given to them. Jehovah saw to it that it was given, as we now read:
4 “In the seventh month [Tishri or Ethanim], on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of Jehovah occurred by means of Haggai the prophet, saying: ‘Say, please, to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, and to the remaining ones of the people, saying, “Who is there among you that is remaining over who saw this house in its former glory? And how are you people seeing it now? Is it not, in comparison with that, as nothing in your eyes?”’”—Haggai 2:1-3.
5. (a) Jehovah’s form of questioning indicated what concerning those present on this occasion? (b) In view of the comparison made, what was really the big question?
5 All that those thus questioned could see, at most, was the groundwork of the temple, the foundation that had been laid sixteen years previously, back in 536 B.C.E. (Ezra 3:8-13) The form of questioning indicates that there were some very old persons there who had been deported to Babylon and who had seen the temple built by Solomon before it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E., more than eighty-seven years previously. They could recall how gorgeous that divinely designed temple of Solomon had looked. They alone were able to make a full comparison of it with what they now saw. What now lay before their eyes on the former temple location was as nothing in comparison. What, then, could be expected with regard to a temple that would have such a humble, lowly start? So, would it be worth while for those God-fearing Israelites to carry forward the rebuilding of the temple? But, since the temple was to be Jehovah’s house, the big question was, Could Jehovah of armies make something impressive, something suitable, out of nothing?
6. The matter of rebuilding the temple actually rested with whom, and who therefore would really be building it, and how?
6 The matter really rested with the God who was to be worshiped at the proposed house. Was it His will that the house be rebuilt for his glory and the promoting of the spiritual interests of the nation of Israel? Since it was His will, then the builders would be doing His will and His work. They would therefore have his approval and his backing and support, no matter who and how many were against them. He, in fact, would be building the house through the Israelite builders as his instrumentalities. This was all-important, just as it is stated by Solomon in Psalm 127:1, where he remarks: “Unless Jehovah himself builds the house, it is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it. Unless Jehovah himself guards the city, it is to no avail that the guard has kept awake.”
7. (a) Who was most concerned with the rebuilding of that house, and why? (b) That they might not be fearful because of the enemies, what did Jehovah now say through Haggai?
7 As the matter concerned the pure worship of the one living and true God, Jehovah himself was involved as being that God. He was the One who would do the building. In view of that they did not need to be weakened through fear of the overwhelming numbers of the enemies. That is why he inspired his prophet Haggai to say: “‘But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and be strong, O Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest.’ ‘And be strong, all you people of the land,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and work.’ ‘For I am with you people,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies. ‘Remember the thing that I concluded with you people when you came forth from Egypt, and when my spirit was standing in among you. Do not be afraid.’”—Haggai 2:4, 5.
8. In what respect did those temple builders have to be strong, and how was a similar thing true of the apostle Paul in Corinth?
8 That Israelite remnant, who were charged with the rebuilding of the temple, had to be strong in faith. They would show their faith by their work at temple building. Why not? For Jehovah of armies was with them. As the Jewish Christian apostle Paul later on said to the congregation at Rome, Italy: “What, then, shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who will be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Such a divine assurance is very strengthening, as this same Paul experienced when doing God’s work in the Grecian city of Corinth in the first century C.E. Concerning this, the account in Acts of the Apostles tells us: “Moreover, by night the Lord said to Paul through a vision: ‘Have no fear, but keep on speaking and do not keep silent, because I am with you and no man will assault you so as to do you injury; for I have many people in this city.’” Did Paul show faith and do as told? The account says: “So he stayed set there a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God.”—Acts 18:9-11.
9. (a) Likewise, in what quality should those temple builders be strong, and under whose leadership? (b) What was it that God concluded with their forefathers that they should remember, and why now?
9 Just so, too, the repatriated Israelite remnant needed to be strong in their reliance upon Almighty God and do His work. The foremost officials among them, Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua, were responsible to take the lead, and the rest of the remnant would follow along and work with them. They should remember the covenant that Jehovah had concluded with their forefathers when He was leading them away from Egypt. It was very fitting for them to be reminded of this by Haggai, for during their forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land their forefathers had lived in tents or booths, and, look here! the Israelite remnant at Jerusalem were celebrating the Festival of Booths in remembrance of that experience of their forefathers. Their forefathers had encountered enemies along the way; but Jehovah had delivered his people and had kept his covenant and brought them into the Promised Land. The same God of deliverances was with the Israelite remnant at the Festival of Booths there in Jerusalem. They should not be afraid.
GRANDER GLORY FORESEEN
10, 11. (a) Why should those temple builders not be discouraged at the comparative look of things? (b) To build up their expectations, what did Jehovah now say through Haggai?
10 The Israelite remnant were not to be discouraged because what they were now starting with was like nothing in comparison with the magnificent world-famous temple of Solomon. They might have expected nothing outstanding or deserving of notice to result from their efforts at temple building. But Jehovah saw something simply surpassing for the product of their labors of faith. So, in order to spur them on, to cheer them on with the highest of expectations, Jehovah now explained why they should not be afraid but be strong in faith and should work, by saying through the prophet Haggai:
11 “For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.’ ‘And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”—Haggai 2:6, 7.
12. Despite the universal rocking, what would remain, and who was it indicated would turn to Jehovah?
12 Was that not a thrilling prospect for that Israelite remnant to entertain with respect to the house of worship that they were about to build? Jehovah of armies himself was setting that prospect before them, and it was therefore certain to be realized. There was to be a universal shaking. He would cause it. Things high and low with respect to their earth would be rocked—out of their place, if not also to their destruction! But, through all this rocking, one thing was bound to remain standing—that house that the Israelite remnant had built! That meant that the pure worship of Jehovah was to endure, even as His house endured. His house of worship He would fill with glory, for the desirable things of all the nations would come into it. Those desirable things would be borne there by all those who had turned to worshiping Him from among all the nations. That house of divine worship would become the most important and famous house on earth. Not alone would natural Israelites worship Jehovah there, but also non-Jewish peoples from all the nations!
13. What were the workers thus assured this time about their temple building, and so what was there incentive for them to do?
13 This assured that Israelite remnant that this time they would complete the building of the temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem. No matter what world-shaking events might take place around them, this goal would be gloriously attained. Let all the rest of the world be disturbed, frightened and preoccupied by the shaking and rocking that unsettled them, the work of building the house of worship to Jehovah must go forward—to glorious completion! And then would come the jubilant inauguration of it! (Deuteronomy 20:5) Jehovah of armies has given his word for it, and so it must come to pass! So, then, to the work, with His strength! There is every incentive to work!
14, 15. The expression “yet once” is in relation with what—where and when?
14 When, though, is this to be? Jehovah of armies said: “Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.” (Haggai 2:6) “Yet once”—in relation to what previous? When, previous to this, did he do a rocking of things? This must have been down south at Mount Sinai in the third lunar month (Sivan) in the year of the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt, the year 1513 B.C.E. On the first day of that month (Sivan) they encamped in front of Mount Sinai, the mountain at which Jehovah by means of his angel had appeared to the prophet Moses by miraculous manifestation of the burning bush that did not get consumed. On the third day of their encampment there, what happened? Let us read the account in Exodus 19:16-19:
15 “And on the third day when it became morning it came about that thunders and lightnings began occurring, and a heavy cloud upon the mountain and a very loud sound of a horn, so that all the people who were in the camp began to tremble. Moses now brought the people out of the camp to meet the true God, and they went taking their stand at the base of the mountain. And Mount Sinai smoked all over, due to the fact that Jehovah came down upon it in fire; and its smoke kept ascending like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain was trembling very much. When the sound of the horn became continually louder and louder, Moses began to speak, and the true God began to answer him with a voice.”
16, 17. (a) What warning was then issued, after which there were given what? (b) What request did the Israelites now make about hearing God speak directly to them?
16 Then, after issuing instructions for the Israelites to take care and keep a respectful distance from the mountain so as not to touch it, Jehovah, by means of his angel, pronounced the Ten Commandments from the top of Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:20 to 20:17) After that divine expression, did the Israelite people care to hear the voice of Jehovah directly anymore? Moses tells us, saying:
17 “Now all the people were seeing the thunders and the lightning flashes and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking. When the people got to see it, then they quivered and stood at a distance. And they began to say to Moses: ‘You speak with us, and let us listen; but let not God speak with us for fear we may die.’ So Moses said to the people: ‘Do not be afraid, because for the sake of putting you to the test the true God has come, and in order that the fear of him may continue before your faces that you may not sin.’ And the people kept standing at a distance, but Moses went near to the dark cloud mass where the true God was.”—Exodus 20:18-21.
18. (a) When did Moses later refer to these experiences at Mount Sinai, and what did David say about it in Psalm 68? (b) What relation did that shaking have with the building and inaugurating of the sacred tabernacle?
18 In farewell talks almost forty years later to the younger generation of Israelites, the prophet Moses referred back to these experiences at Mount Sinai. (Deuteronomy 4:9-14; 18:15-19) Even the psalmist David was inspired to tell about it in a melodious song, saying: “O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the desert—. . . the earth itself rocked, heaven itself also dripped because of God; this Sinai rocked because of God, the God of Israel.” (Psalm 68:7, 8, NW; RS; JP) This shaking of an entire mountain was something not soon forgotten. Interestingly, also, this making of Mount Sinai rock took place nine months before the Israelites finished making the sacred tent of meeting, the tabernacle. After this the inaugurating of this holy tabernacle occurred on the first day of the first lunar month (Nisan) of the following year, 1512 B.C.E. Thus the shaking and rocking preceded the start of the worship of Jehovah at this tabernacle erected in the wilderness of Sinai.—Exodus 39:42 to 40:37.
19. According to Haggai 2:6, Jehovah was to do another rocking, but this time of what?
19 According to his declaration in Haggai 2:6, Jehovah purposed to do another shaking or rocking of the earth, this to be accompanied by a rocking also of the heavens and the sea and the dry ground. When? “Yet once—it is a little while,” said He.
20. As regards the literal rebuilt temple at Jerusalem, during what period of time would that rocking have to occur as a primary fulfillment of Haggai 2:6-9?
20 It was on Tishri 21 of the year 520 B.C.E. that he said this. The rebuilding of the temple was not finished until the third day of the twelfth lunar month (Adar 3) of the sixth year (515 B.C.E.) of the reign of the Persian Darius I. That was more than four years four lunar months later than Jehovah’s prophecy of Haggai 2:6-9. After that would come the inauguration of the rebuilt temple. Following that, Jehovah would fulfill his word and fill that sacred house with glory. (Ezra 4:24; 6:14, 15) Hence the shaking and rocking of things to fulfill his prophecy in connection with that literal rebuilt temple at Jerusalem would have to occur during that period of time (520-515 B.C.E.), as a primary fulfillment of the prophecy. The records of history would have to show how the prophecy was fulfilled in the international affairs of that particular time. It was indeed a time of considerable disturbance for the Persian Empire.
21. Why should we today be interested in a larger fulfillment of the prophecy of Haggai 2:6-9?
21 However, we must remember that the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem was typical. It was a small-scale representation of Jehovah’s greater temple, his spiritual temple where his dedicated people worship him today. So the larger and final fulfillment of Haggai 2:6-9 is the fulfillment in which we today should be interested.
THE CERTAINTY OF A MODERN FULFILLMENT
22. Since what year have modern nations been unsteady, and what question arises?
22 All informed persons will readily agree that, ever since the fourteenth year of our twentieth century, something out of the ordinary has been happening to the nations. World War I, which began in 1914 C.E., unloosed a chain of events that have sent all the nations reeling today. All their efforts to steady themselves, even with the aid of the United Nations organization for world peace and security, continue to fail. What is the meaning of it all? How will it at last turn out? Political forecasters of events and world historians have no reliable answer. But is there no answer?
23. The answer is contained in what message out of the sixth century B.C.E.?
23 The answer is contained in the words that come ringing out to us from Jerusalem of the sixth century before our Common Era: “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.’ ‘And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”—Haggai 2:6, 7.
24. What questions arise as to the application of those prophetic words?
24 How, though, do we know that those thrilling words transmitted to us by Jehovah’s prophet Haggai do not just apply back there in that prophet’s time or a “little while” after? How can we be sure that those same words have a modern application in our own day?
25. (a) The answer is indicated for us in what quotation made later to people of the same race? (b) Why did those people need to be careful because of an impending catastrophe?
25 We know, because, a long while after Haggai’s prophecy, in fact, about 580 years after, those prophetic words were quoted under divine inspiration and were given a future application, to the end of this international system of things. As with Haggai’s prophetic words, this quotation of his words was made to Hebrews, to the descendants of the patriarch Abraham the Hebrew, only these latter Hebrews had become Christians in the first century of our Common Era. (Genesis 14:13; Hebrews 1:1, 2; 2:16) The quotation from Haggai’s prophecy was made to them about ten years before the destruction of Jerusalem and its rebuilt temple by the Romans in the year 70 C.E. Consequently a great change was impending, and the Christianized Hebrews had to be careful now that they did not suffer harm and loss along with those unbelieving Hebrews who still clung to the earthly Jerusalem and its material temple.
26. For those Christianized Hebrews to avoid loss, what did the writer say to them, with a reference to Esau?
26 Telling the Christianized Hebrews how to avoid irreparable loss by pursuing the right course with proper appreciation of spiritual values, the inspired writer said to them: “Pursue peace with all people, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, carefully watching that no one may be deprived of the undeserved kindness of God; that no poisonous root may spring up and cause trouble and that many may not be defiled by it; that there may be no fornicator nor anyone not appreciating sacred things, like Esau, who in exchange for one meal gave away his rights as firstborn. For you know that afterward also when he wanted to inherit the blessing he was rejected, for, although he earnestly sought a change of mind [in his father Isaac] with tears, he found no place for it [in Isaac].”—Hebrews 12:14-17.
27. (a) Why was the condition of these Christianized Hebrews more serious than that of their forefathers at Mount Sinai? (b) How could they avoid being like Esau?
27 For those Christianized Hebrews things had changed tremendously since they became followers of the Messiah, Jesus the descendant of King David and of the patriarch Abraham. Those Hebrews faced a bigger and more serious set of circumstances than did their forefathers, when these were led to the mountain of Sinai by the prophet Moses in 1513 B.C.E. Bigger things were at stake and could be permanently lost, with destruction finally for the losers. As the patriarch Isaac the son of Abraham refused to repent in spite of the tears of his materialistic son Esau, so Jehovah God would not repent if these Christianized Hebrews lost their appreciation of His undeserved kindness to them through the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of being like Esau, who placed a cheap value on the spiritual opportunities that were open to him as a grandson of Abraham, they should avoid profaneness by showing full appreciation for sacred things and holding fast to these. That is why the inspired writer went on to say to these Christianized Hebrews who had now been brought into a new covenant through Jesus Christ:
28. According to the writer, what had those Christianized Hebrews not approached?
28 “For [that is to say, In view of what I have just said in the preceding sentences] you have not approached that which can be felt [like Mount Sinai] and which has been set aflame with fire, and a dark cloud and thick darkness and a tempest, and the blare of a trumpet and the voice of words; on hearing which voice the people implored that no word should be added to them. For the command was not bearable to them: ‘And if a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned.’ Also, the display was so fearsome that Moses [the mediator] said: ‘I am fearful and trembling.’
29. But what had those Christianized Hebrews approached and what set of circumstances?
29 “But you have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels [not just those angels back there at Mount Sinai], in general assembly, and the congregation of the firstborn [Christian firstborn sons of God who are greater than Isaac’s firstborn son Esau] who have been enrolled in the heavens [not on Isaac’s earthly family record], and God the Judge of all [not God’s representative angel as at Mount Sinai], and the spiritual lives of righteous ones who have been made perfect [not condemned sinners like the Hebrews at Mount Sinai], and Jesus the mediator of a new covenant [better than the Law covenant mediated by Moses], and the blood of sprinkling, which speaks in a better way than Abel’s blood [it being the blood of Jesus Christ].”—Hebrews 12:18-24; Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:37, 38.
30. So, now, what can we appreciate more about the position of those Christianized Hebrews?
30 When we consider all those bigger things to which the Christianized Hebrews had approached, we can appreciate that they were in a situation more serious than that of their Hebrew forefathers in front of Mount Sinai of Arabia in the year 1513 B.C.E. They had more to lose. Eternal destruction was possible for them by becoming like Isaac’s firstborn son Esau and losing their appreciation of the sacred things connected with the spiritual firstborn sons of God who are enrolled in the heavens.
31. The same thing holds true for whom today, and so what should these be eager to do?
31 The same thing holds true for people of today who claim to be Christians, regardless of whether they are converted Jews or converted Gentiles. We should recognize who it is that is speaking to us—God—through his inspired Word, the sacred Bible. We should be eager therefore to listen to the additional things that he has said to us through the Mediator Jesus Christ and his disciples who were inspired to write sacred scripture. We should not fail to appreciate fully these most highly important things. We should not excuse ourselves from listening and paying attention to them. Hence the inspired writer to the Christian Hebrews goes on to say:
32. Hence, what did the writer go on to say about begging off?
32 “See that you do not beg off [excuse yourselves] from him who is speaking. For if they did not escape who begged off from him who was giving divine warning upon earth, much more shall we not if we turn away from him who speaks from the heavens. At that time his voice shook the earth [but did not shake Mount Sinai to pieces], but now he has promised, saying: ‘Yet once more I will set in commotion not only the earth but also the heaven.’”
33. Where did God make such a promise, and why did the writer now quote it as fitting?
33 Where did Jehovah God make such a promise? Why, in the prophecy of Haggai, chapter two, verse six, given in ancient Jerusalem, in these words: “For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.’” But that divine promise was not completely fulfilled in “a little while” after the prophet Haggai uttered them. That is why the writer to the Christianized Hebrews makes this further inspired comment on that divine promise about shaking the heavens as well as the earth:
34. What comment does the writer make on his quotation of Haggai 2:6?
34 “Now the expression ‘Yet once more’ signifies the removal of the things being shaken as things that have been made, in order that the things not being shaken may remain. Wherefore, seeing that we are to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us [unlike Esau] continue to have undeserved kindness, through which we may acceptably render God sacred service with godly fear and awe. For our God is also a consuming fire [as destructive as the fire with which Mount Sinai was set aflame].”—Hebrews 12:25-29.
35. To what time does the writer apply the expression “Yet once more,” and so what must be close as regards the shakable, made things?
35 Have we noticed? The writer to the Christianized Hebrews applies the divine expression “Yet once more” to the future and explains that the only unshakable thing is the kingdom that the Christians who render sacred service to God in an acceptable manner will receive. Also, that the removal of all the made things that are shaken will leave room for that kingdom, a government that will remain standing and in operation. The shakable made things have not yet been removed, although they may be already set in commotion and be rocking and shaking. Evidently, then, according to the interpretation placed on things by the inspired sacred Scriptures, the prophecy of Haggai 2:6, 7 has a modern, twentieth-century application and the fulfillment of the prophecy to the point of completion is yet ahead of us, but very close!
HOW?
36. What question now arises regarding a modern, twentieth-century fulfillment of Haggai 2:6, 7?
36 The literal heavens, earth, sea and dry ground will not be removed and perish. Certainly this was not the case in any small-scale first fulfillment of the prophecy in or a little while after Haggai’s day. So, how is it that the divine promise is carried out in modern, twentieth-century fulfillment? “For this is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.’ ‘And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.”—Haggai 2:6, 7.
37. To what is the rocking of all the things mentioned to lead up, and what must happen to the things that oppose and hinder this?
37 Who is there that cannot see that the rocking and shaking of all the things mentioned is to lead up to the glorification of the Temple of Jehovah God? That means the beautification and exaltation of the pure worship of the one living and true God, not at a literal house of worship on earth, but at his true Temple, namely, the realm of the worship of Him with spirit and with truth, within the framework of his special arrangement. (John 4:21-24) Jehovah must be given his rightful place of worship in all the living universe. All things that have opposed and hindered this right and pure worship must be removed from all existence. According to the inspired writer in Hebrews 12:26, 27, the rocking and shaking of all those things signifies the removing of them, their being shaken to pieces.
38. As regards the rocking or shaking, what about the things to which the anointed Christians have approached (Hebrews 12:22, 23)?
38 The “city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem,” will not be shaken and removed. Neither will its heavenly location, “Mount Zion.” Nor will the holy “myriads of angels, in general assembly,” nor the “congregation of the firstborn who have been enrolled in the heavens,” nor the “spiritual lives of righteous ones who have been made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:22, 23) These things to which the dedicated, baptized, anointed Christians have approached are not things perishable. These are not associated with or dependent on a typical, material temple here on earth, like the temples built in the earthly Jerusalem by King Solomon and Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua the son of Jehozadak. These imperishable things have to do with Jehovah’s greater temple, his spiritual temple, which is the only temple that can contain him in its Holy of Holies (heaven itself). (1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:48-50; 17:24, 25; Hebrews 9:23, 24) Also, those imperishable, irremovable things have to do with Jehovah’s “kingdom that cannot be shaken.”—Hebrews 12:28.
39. So, are the “heavens” that are rocked literal or symbolic, and why?
39 What, then, are the “heavens” that are to be rocked and shaken and removed? Jehovah, the great Rocker and Shaker and Remover, makes the answer plain to us. In that marvelous book of “signs,” the Revelation, which He gave to the Hebrew-Christian apostle John, He gives us a symbolic picture of the removing of those heavens. In Revelation 20:11 he inspired the apostle John to write: “And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” That fugitive heaven was replaced, for, in Revelation 21:1, 2, John goes on to say: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Just as here the “holy city, New Jerusalem,” is a sign picturing “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9), so the “former heavens,” the “heavens” that fled away from before God on his great white throne, are a “sign” or symbol.
40, 41. What does Revelation 12:3-5, 7-12 say to give us a clue as to what “the heavens” signify?
40 A “sign” of what? Evidently of some invisible, spiritual heavenly organization that dominated over mankind. Revelation chapter twelve gives us the clue to this. It tells us: “And another sign was seen in heaven, and, look! a great fiery-colored dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and upon its heads seven diadems; and its tail drags a third of the stars of heaven, and it hurled them down to the earth. . . . And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled but it did not prevail, neither was a place found for them any longer in heaven. So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
41 “‘Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! And they conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witnessing, and they did not love their souls even in the face of death. On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.’”—Revelation 12:3-5, 7-12.
42. From this account the “heavens” are seen to be pictorial of what?
42 From this account in sign language it can clearly be seen that the symbolic “heavens” picture the invisible spirit organization of Satan the Devil and the demon angels under him. With these wicked demon angels Satan the Devil has misled the “entire inhabited earth.” Jesus Christ called him the “ruler” of the world of mankind. (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) The Christian apostle Paul identifies him as “the god of this system of things” who blinds the minds of the unbelievers. Paul also speaks of him as “the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience.” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2) The apostle John calls attention to Satan’s influence on the world of mankind by saying: “We [Christians] know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) Satan and his demon angels are the ones whom Ephesians 6:12 speaks of as “the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” They are the unseen heavens now dominating evil mankind.
43. What can be said as to whether those “heavens” have already begun to be shaken?
43 Thanks be to Almighty God that they are not a permanent “heavens” over the human race. Shortly now, after the coming “great tribulation” upon all mankind, those “heavens” must flee from before the face of Jehovah God seated upon his “great white throne.” (Revelation 20:11) So they are removable “heavens.” They are heavens that can be shaken to their complete destruction. The shaking of them has already begun. At what time? After God’s Messianic kingdom was born in the heavens when the “times of the Gentiles” or “appointed times of the nations” ended in early fall of the year 1914 C.E. Then the enthroned Jesus Christ, acting as the heavenly Michael, the “great prince” who stands in behalf of God’s people, began waging war upon Satan the Devil and his demon organization. As a consequence those wicked spirit forces were shaken out of their heavenly position and were made to fall to the vicinity of our earth.
44. What has that shaking of the “heavens” from contacts above resulted in, and when will the shaking be brought to a finish?
44 Their chagrin at being shaken loose from former heavenly contacts has resulted in increased “woe” for mankind and also persecution upon Jehovah’s dedicated, baptized people, the spiritual Israelites, here on earth. (Revelation 12:5-13, 17; Daniel 12:1) But with this debasement the shaking of them is not all over. The final shaking to a finish must come after the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon and must cause their fall into the prisonlike abyss, where they will be restrained for the thousand years of Christ’s uninterrupted reign over redeemed mankind. Thus those wicked “heavens” now will disappear and will give way to the “new heavens” in which righteousness will dwell forever.—2 Peter 3:7-13; Revelation 20:1-3.
45. That initial shaking of those “heavens” has affected affairs where, and what must be said as regards a shaking and removal of our literal earth?
45 This abasing and restraining of the demonic heavens to the neighborhood of the earth for a “short period of time” till their drop into the “abyss” takes place tremendously affected the affairs of mankind on the earth, since 1914 C.E. But how is it that Jehovah God fulfills his promise to rock, shake and set in commotion the “earth” as well as the “heavens”? (Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26) Well, just as the “heavens” to be shaken are not the literal visible heavens over mankind, so the “earth” that is set in contrast to those heavens is not the literal earth under man’s feet. Concerning the literal earth and its permanence, Psalm 104:5 speaks of God’s creation and says: “He has founded the earth upon its established places; it will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever.” In harmony with this, our literal earthly globe will not be made to rock and shake with a view to its removal.
46. What, then, is the “earth” that is shaken and removed, and when did it come into existence?
46 Logically, then, it is the symbolic “earth” that Jehovah has promised to rock and set in commotion with a view to its removal. Just as the associated “heavens” are made up of intelligent living creatures (the spirit demons under Satan the Devil), so the symbolic “earth” is made up of intelligent living creatures, namely, human society that is lying in the power of the wicked one, Satan the Devil. This ungodly human society came into existence sometime after the flood of Noah’s day and now includes practically all the world of mankind. (Revelation 12:9; 1 John 5:19) This symbolic “earth” and the associated “heavens” over it make up the “heavens and the earth that are now” and that, by the word of God, “are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men,” as 2 Peter 3:7 tells us. Before the Sovereign Lord Jehovah destroys this symbolic “earth” as by consuming fire, how is it that he makes it rock, shakes it, puts it into commotion?
MAKING THE “EARTH” TO ROCK
47. How did God begin to do the shaking of the symbolic “earth”?
47 This He begins to do by exerting his claim to sovereignty over the dwelling place of human society, namely, the literal earth. This He does in a way that he never did before. Selfish, self-centered human society claims to own the earth and to have the right to do with the earth and its seas just what it cares to do. This leaves earth’s Creator out of consideration and is wrong as well as shortsighted. The Sovereign Lord Jehovah let this view and its application prevail uninterruptedly and unchallenged until the close of the Gentile Times or “appointed times of the nations” in 1914 C.E. Then he put life into his own rightful claim by bringing to birth in the heavens his Messianic kingdom. This invisible heavenly government, pictured in Revelation 12:5 as a “child,” the “son” of God’s “woman,” is appointed to “shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” Jehovah’s assertion of his universal sovereignty in this way shook the symbolic “earth,” ungodly human society, loose from its long quiescent state of being settled down, its being permitted by Jehovah God to treat the literal earth as its own, and misusing it as if they were responsible to nobody.
48. How would the symbolic unspiritual “earth” be jarred by the invisible heavenly action by the Universal Sovereign Jehovah?
48 How, though, would earthly human society be rocked or shaken by this invisible heavenly action of the Universal Sovereign if human society was unaware of it? How would unspiritual human society feel it, feel jarred by it? This would be by his having them notified that the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations,” had ended in 1914, the year in which World War I began. Their long world domination had now ended, for now it could be said to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah: “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken you great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came.” (Revelation 11:17, 18) The notifying of the earthly human society concerning this universal change in the status quo was done by the ambassadors on earth of that now reigning Sovereign, Jehovah God the Almighty.
49. Who are those “ambassadors” that serve the notification, and why is their mission now more urgent than ever?
49 Who are these “ambassadors”? These are the dedicated, baptized, spirit-anointed Christians who are described by the apostle Paul’s words in his second letter to the 2 Corinthians, chapter five, verses nineteen and twenty: “God was by means of Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and he committed the word of the reconciliation to us. We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’” Now that Jehovah God the Almighty had taken to himself his great power and begun to reign by means of his newborn Messianic kingdom in the heavens, it was more urgent than ever for earthly human society to become reconciled to God. The complete removal of the entire worldwide system of things was now impending, and its “time of the end” had begun. (Daniel 12:4) The question is, Who will escape destruction with it?
50. How did the symbolic “earth” react to the notification served upon it by the Kingdom ambassadors?
50 How did the symbolic “earth,” the war-afflicted human society, react to the notification served upon it by the “ambassadors” of God’s established kingdom in the hands of His Christ? Did the earth quiet down, in peaceful reaction to the invitation to become reconciled to Jehovah’s newborn kingdom by Christ? The history of those years of World War I answers No! The war-torn “earth” was rocked, shaken, set in commotion by such notification. As Revelation 11:18 foretold: “The nations became wrathful,” that is, against the Kingdom ambassadors. They tried to use the earth-wide wartime conditions to suppress these Kingdom ambassadors. They even resorted to violent persecution, in some cases even to the death of ambassadors. This was the experience of the dedicated, baptized, anointed Christians then known as International Bible Students, but today known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses.
51. (a) What may be said further about this serving of notice by the Kingdom ambassadors and the effects thereof? (b) How has the cause of this been just as stated in Hebrews 12:26?
51 On the pages of history stands written the shameful record that the symbolic “earth” made for itself as it rocked, shook, became filled with violent commotion in hostility to Jehovah’s Kingdom ambassadors. The notification served by the faithful ambassadors of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has continued to this day, on an ever-widening scale, and the symbolic “earth” is still being rocked, shaken, set in commotion by the notification and its challenging significance. As a proof that this notification tells the truth we see fulfilled the things that Jesus Christ said would mark this “time of the end”: “There will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.” (Luke 21:11) But in a symbolic way it has been just as Hebrews 12:26 says concerning Jehovah’s presence at Mount Sinai when giving the Ten Commandments: “At that time his voice shook the earth.” In these days the delivery of the message from his written Word by means of his Kingdom ambassadors has shaken the symbolic “earth.”
52. What is pictured by the “sea” and by the “dry ground” that are also to be rocked?
52 All elements of human society on earth have been made to rock and shake. It is just as the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Yet once—it is a little while—and I am rocking the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.” (Haggai 2:6) On the upper crust of our earthly globe there appear the sea and the dry ground; the sea being constantly in motion and the dry ground being quite stable, except for a local earthquake. The prophecy of Haggai 2:6 having a symbolic meaning, as in the case of the “heavens and the earth,” the symbolic “sea” would be that part of human society that is unsettled, restless, tossing up, as it were, “seaweed and mire,” unpeaceable, desirous of radical changes, continually beating against the “dry ground.” (Isaiah 57:20) In contrast, the symbolic “dry ground” would be that part of human society that is settled, stable, conservative, trying to keep the status quo, opposed to radical changes.
53. How is it shown whether these two elements of human society have been rocked?
53 Nevertheless, both of these elements of human society desire rule of the earthly globe by men rather than by God, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Hence they also have been rocked by the serving of notice upon them by the spiritual ambassadors, announcing that the “appointed times of the nations” have expired and that Jehovah’s kingdom by Christ now reigns in the heavens and that the time fast approaches for the utter removal of this whole earthly system of things in a great tribulation such as mankind has never experienced before. (Matthew 24:3-22; Mark 13:4-20) Showing that they are being rocked by the message from God’s Word, both elements of human society, the conservative and the radical, have become “wrathful” against the proclaimers of the divine message, the Kingdom ambassadors.
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“The Desirable Things of All the Nations Must Come In”Paradise Restored to Mankind—By Theocracy!
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Chapter 5
“The Desirable Things of All the Nations Must Come In”
1. What does Haggai 2:7 go on to say about what follows the rocking of the nations, and so what should we not want to do as respects Jehovah’s worship?
IT IS apparent that the outworking of the prophecy of Haggai 2:6 has been going on since Jehovah God the Almighty took over his universal sovereignty in that war-marked year of 1914 C.E. But the prophecy goes on to tell us what will result from the rocking of all the nations, besides the total removal of the man-made system of things on earth. In Haggai 2:7 the Sovereign Lord Jehovah continues on to say: “‘And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” In view of this divine promise, showing that Jehovah of armies is pleased to glorify his temple or house of pure worship, who are we that we should despise and downgrade the true worship of Him in these troublous days?
2. How, since 1914 C.E., has Jehovah rocked the nations, and why must there be a final reaction on their part?
2 In faithfully carrying out this prophecy, Jehovah of armies has rocked all the nations. Since 1914 C.E. he has sent his Kingdom ambassadors to notify all the nations of the critical change that has taken place in the universal status quo. The outcome has been just as Jesus Christ predicted in his prophecy on the “conclusion of the system of things”: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:3-14) All the nations are obliged to confess that they have become wrathful against the Kingdom ambassadors. The historic record testifies against the nations. But the being wrathful on the part of the nations is not yet over. In the decisive showdown that is yet ahead, the Kingdom ambassadors will continue to stick to Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and to live up to their God-given message. Therefore, as foretold in God’s prophetic Word, the wrath of all the nations is due to burst forth in a final expression.
3. To what extent will Jehovah rock the nations, and hence what about any religious tolerance by them at present?
3 The hostility of the political nations of earth will be shown to its fullest, and accordingly Jehovah of armies will rock all those nations until they crumble in ruin and are removed forever. Hence any religious tolerance of the nations toward the Kingdom ambassadors at the present is merely temporary. Let no one be deceived by it.
4. Have the nations, as whole political establishments, fulfilled the prophecy of Haggai 2:7, and what proves whether?
4 Before the final outburst of wrath on the part of all the nations and then their violent removal, what are we to expect, according to the prophecy of Haggai 2:7? This: “‘The desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” Well, then, what do the historic facts show regarding the fulfillment of this prophecy up until now? They do not show that all the political nations as whole nations, as political establishments, have come into Jehovah’s true temple of worship and have brought with them as voluntary gifts the desirable things of their nations. After all that has happened since 1914 C.E., the nations still do not renounce their own earthly sovereignty and come out in favor of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty. After the end of World War II in 1945 they set up the United Nations as the international organization for world peace and security. To this they tenaciously hold, in desperation, down till this day. That international organization stands in outright opposition to Jehovah’s sovereignty.
5. How have individual citizens within the rocking nations reacted, and with whom have they associated themselves?
5 Yet, what about individual citizens in all the nations that have been going through a strong rocking during which they have been trying to hold themselves together? Well, down till now there have been tens of thousands of individuals who have reacted to the Kingdom preaching in a way different from that of their political governments and that of religious organizations mixed up in politics. They have come to see that there is no happy, peaceful, prosperous future for themselves under such man-made political governments. They have come to see that the only hope of being saved from destruction with the political nations of this system of things is the Messianic kingdom of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. They keenly feel that Satan the Devil is the “god of this system of things” and they do not want to worship that false god by worshiping the political nations. They recognize that all sovereignty rightfully belongs to the Most High God. Hence they have dedicated themselves wholly to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah to worship him at his true house of worship. They have associated themselves with His ambassadors.
6. In beholding such modern-day advocates of Jehovah’s sovereignty and worship, what prophecy of Isaiah are we seeing fulfilled?
6 In beholding such modern-day advocates of Jehovah’s universal sovereignty and worship we are beholding a thrilling fulfillment of that often-quoted prophecy of Isaiah 2:2-4: “It must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it all the nations must stream. And many peoples will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem. And he will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”
7. When did this begin to occur, and by what kind of people?
7 Not in the forepart, but in the “final part of the days” of this “time of the end” this international throng has begun to stream to the most highly exalted worship of Jehovah, “the God of Jacob [or, Israel].” Coming as they do from “all the nations,” they are not spiritual Israelites, as the Kingdom ambassadors are.
8, 9. The fulfillment of the prophecy observedly began in what year, and after what events?
8 When did these individuals out of “all the nations” begin to stream up the symbolic “mountain of Jehovah” to worship unitedly at the “house of the God of Jacob”? It was observable after the publication of the two-part article entitled “Great Multitude” in the issues of the Watchtower magazine under date of August 1 and 15, 1935, four years before the outbreak of World War II. The material set out in this article was earlier presented to a general assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses at Washington, D.C., U.S.A., Friday afternoon, May 31, 1935. The speech and the printed article were in explanation of the “great multitude” that was foreseen and foretold in Revelation 7:9, 10, in the following words:
9 “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”—Authorized Version Bible of 1611 C.E.
10. Of whom is this unnumbered “great multitude” made up?
10 This unnumbered “great multitude” was distinguished from the spiritual Israelites who were pictured in the preceding five verses (Revelation 7:4-8) and who were to be sealed with the seal of the living God. This international “great multitude” is made up of recent disciples of Christ who are not sealed with God’s seal for association with Jesus Christ as kings and priests in God’s spiritual temple. (Revelation 20:4-6) They are dedicated, baptized disciples of Christ who are not thus sealed but who follow Jesus Christ as the Fine Shepherd. By him they are led to an earthly destiny, to eternal life in a paradise earth under the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ and his 144,000 sealed disciples. These unsealed disciples belong to the “other sheep” whom Jesus Christ mentioned in John 10:16, saying: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” Every year since 1935 these “other sheep” being gathered in have increased in number to form a “great multitude” indeed.
THE “DESIRABLE THINGS” PRESERVED
11, 12. (a) What must be said as to whether they are things to be desired at Jehovah’s temple of worship? (b) What shows whether they are among the things to be rocked to ruin?
11 Are such dedicated, baptized “other sheep” desirable at the house devoted to pure worship of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah? Most truly, Yes! These are really “the desirable things of all the nations” who, as Jehovah of armies foretold, would come in for worship at his temple. It is not material gifts and financial contributions that Jehovah desires from all the nations. Rather, it is beautiful living worshipers like this numberless “great crowd” from all nations, tribes, peoples and languages. (John 4:23, 24) These are not things that will be rocked and shaken to pieces, destroyed, in the coming “great tribulation” upon the worldwide system of things. Such sheeplike believers in the Lamb Jesus Christ are to be preserved through that destructive tribulation. This is emphasized in the following question and answer:
12 “And in response one of the elders said to me: ‘These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?’ So right away I [John the apostle] said to him: ‘My lord, you are the one that knows.’ And he said to me: ‘These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’”—Revelation 7:13, 14.
13, 14. (a) How, then, is the further part of Haggai 2:7 fulfilled, “And I will fill this house with glory”? (b) How was this foretold in Revelation 7:15?
13 It is by the incoming of these “other sheep” who come out of all the nations that Jehovah of armies fulfills the further part of his promise, saying: “And I will fill this house with glory.” (Haggai 2:7) An empty temple, barren of worshipers, would be no glory to Jehovah of armies. But to have his place of worship thronged with worshipers in washed white robes and waving palm branches and crying out: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb,” this would fill Jehovah’s house with glory more than all kinds of material decorations. That His house of worship is thus filled with glory was foretold in the further part of the answer to John’s question:
14 “That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.”—Revelation 7:15.
15. (a) Where is it, as it were, that this increasing “great crowd” are serving God day and night? (b) Who are they, on earth, who stand in awe at how Jehovah thus fills his temple with glory?
15 Hundreds of thousands of this “great crowd” of “other sheep” are already at the spiritual temple of Jehovah God, who is now enthroned in his universal sovereignty. Day and night they are rendering sacred service to him there by everywhere proclaiming his Messianic kingdom and salvation for all mankind through the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Not being the sealed spiritual Israelites, they are, as it were, in the Court of the Gentiles such as was a part of the temple at Jerusalem in the days of Jesus Christ and his apostles. It is at this great spiritual temple also that a remnant of the spiritual Israelites are today serving as underpriests under the High Priest Jesus Christ. Because of this, the remnant of spiritual Israelites who serve as spiritual underpriests are now having loving association with this increasing “great crowd” of “other sheep” who sincerely join in the pure worship of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Such underpriests stand in awe at how God has thus filled his temple with glory.
16. (a) With a view to preserving them through the “great tribulation,” what does Jehovah do? (b) What does the Lamblike Shepherd do for them?
16 With a view to preserving the “great crowd” of sheeplike worshipers through the coming “great tribulation,” it is promised: “And the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.” That they will not be rocked to destruction and removed from the earth is assured to them in the further words about this “great crowd” at Jehovah’s spiritual temple: “They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down upon them nor any scorching heat [in divine displeasure], because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them, and will guide them to fountains of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”—Revelation 7:15-17.
17. (a) Has anything like this occurred at Jehovah’s spiritual temple before? (b) How is worship of Him at his temple assured to Him forevermore?
17 Never before has such a marvelous thing as this taken place at the spiritual temple of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Never before has it been filled with glory by the coming in of so many “desirable things” out of all the nations. The worship of Jehovah at his spiritual temple is assured to Him forevermore. When the present rocking and shaking of all nations, yes, of the symbolic heavens, earth, sea and dry ground, reaches its grand climax in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon and then the abyssing of Satan, his spiritual temple in which he thrones will remain unshaken. His worshipers there will enjoy loving protection under His tent and will be preserved for his sacred service for all time to come.
THE GREATER GLORY OF THE LATER HOUSE
18. What is the thing of greatest value that the “desirable things of all the nations” can give to the Creator, and why?
18 The thing of greatest value that the “desirable things of all the nations” can give to the great Creator is their pure worship of Him as their God. The religious systems of Christendom and of Jewry and of other dominant religions have filled their houses of worship with gold and silver and other material treasures of high earthly value. But such material wealth is not what the one living and true God desires from his worshipers. He is the Owner of all material things by reason of his being the Creator.
19. (a) Can we enrich God by material gifts? (b) Why did the temple builders back in Haggai’s day not need to worry about expenses?
19 Nobody can enrich God the Creator by bringing such material valuables into a building dedicated to some kind of religion. One’s giving to the Creator what is already the Creator’s does not enrich him, although it may make the priests of the different religions richer. So in filling Jehovah’s house with glory such material things are not the required things. As Haggai’s prophecy goes on to say: “‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.” (Haggai 2:8) Back there in Haggai’s day, in 520 B.C.E., did the temple builders at Jerusalem need to worry about expenses? No! Not with such a rich God.
20. How would the Creator see to it that all needed expenses were provided, and why did the builders not need to be discouraged at the unpromising look of things at the start?
20 Back there, Jehovah of armies as Creator was the Owner of all the material things that the temple builders needed. He could be depended upon to provide all financial backing that was needed to start and finish the rebuilding of the temple of his worship. He could see to it also that, by His spirit, certain possessors of material riches would make contributions toward the rebuilding work. The fact that he promised to fill the proposed new house of worship with glory was a divine guarantee that the rebuilding of the house could be started in full confidence. It would be completed and to it worshipers would come. The unpromising look of things at the start was therefore no reason for the temple builders to become discouraged. Jehovah would not encourage them to start something that they would be obliged later on to leave uncompleted. The richest person in all the living universe was behind them!
21. Of what statement published in Zion’s Watch Tower does that remind us?
21 This reminds us of the statement printed in the second issue of the Watch Tower magazine under date of August, 1879, page 2, under the heading “Do You Want ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’?”
Do not suppose these remarks to be an appeal for money. No. “Zion’s Watch Tower” has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: “All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,” fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication.
That was published in the then 6,000 copies of the magazine.
22. Why did the temple builders need extraordinary faith, and what was the outlook that they needed to have?
22 When undertaking to rebuild Jehovah’s temple at Jerusalem, Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua the son of Jehozadak and the rest of the Israelites needed to exercise extraordinary faith in God, especially as the official ban of the Persian Empire was still in effect upon rebuilding Jehovah’s house of worship. Besides that, the builders needed to fight off discouragement because the humble beginning of the work appeared like nothing when compared with the former glorious temple built by King Solomon. They needed to have Jehovah’s outlook to encourage them onward. So Jehovah used his prophet Haggai to reveal what the divine outlook was, in these words: “‘Greater will the glory of this later house become than that of the former,’ Jehovah of armies has said. ‘And in this place I shall give peace,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.”—Haggai 2:9.
23. As regards the ‘glory of the later house being greater than that of the former one,’ what must we remember with regard to Jehovah’s true temple?
23 Toward understanding those prophetic words, we must remember that Jehovah’s spiritual temple has as its Holy of Holies the holy residential place of Jehovah God in the invisible heavens and that this spiritual temple of His was not destroyed by the Babylonian armies in the year 607 B.C.E., when all of Jerusalem was laid desolate. Only the typical representation of it on earth was destroyed. The real spiritual temple of Jehovah was yet to come into existence and would not need to be rebuilt. So this then future spiritual temple has endured till today and the final and complete fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy in our day applies to that one spiritual temple of the one living and true God.
24. In Haggai’s day, what was the “later house” and what was the “former” one, and how did the glory of the one become greater than that of the other?
24 Back there in Haggai’s time, more than 2,490 years ago, a new and second temple at Jerusalem needed to be constructed. It would be the “later house,” whereas the destroyed Solomon’s temple was the “former” temple. Both those houses were “the typical representations of the things in the heavens.” (Hebrews 9:23) According to Jehovah’s assurance in Haggai 2:9, the glory of the temple built under the supervision of Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua at Jerusalem was to be greater than that of King Solomon’s temple. How did this come to be true? For one thing, it continued in use longer, from 515 B.C.E. to 70 C.E., or for 584 years, whereas Solomon’s temple stood for 420 years. So the “later house” lasted till Messiah’s coming, and he himself taught there. Furthermore, in the year 17 B.C.E. King Herod the Great of the Roman Province of Judea began the gradual rebuilding of Zerubbabel’s temple, expending much money upon it and making it have a magnificence that rivaled that of Solomon’s temple. But what would count more with God is appreciation of His house by worshipers.
25. What did the greater glory of the “later house” mean in the way of worshipers at the temple?
25 Doubtless, then, more worshipers flocked to Jehovah’s rebuilt house of worship at Jerusalem than in the case of Solomon’s temple. Especially so over a longer period of time. Also, since the temple was rebuilt more than ninety years after the dispersion of the Jews to many parts of the earth as exiles and fugitives, the worshipers came from more widespread parts of the earth than in the case of the former temple. On the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E. there were natural Jews and proselytes there at Herod’s temple in Jerusalem from Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, which is toward Cyrene, Rome, Crete, Arabia, as well as from Judea. (Acts 2:1-11) In this way the later house had a greater religious patronage and hence a greater glory, in the typical fulfillment of the prophecy.
26. What glory did Jehovah’s spiritual temple get from its typical representations built by men on earth?
26 How, though, is Jehovah’s prophecy fulfilled with respect to the spiritual temple, which is only one indestructible temple, never having a rebuilding or replacement? In this way: During the time that those material temples as built by Solomon, Zerubbabel and Herod were standing, Jehovah’s real spiritual temple was having attention called to it by those typical representations of it upon the earth at Jerusalem. Even the visionary temple as miraculously seen by the prophet Ezekiel in the year 593 B.C.E. typically called attention to Jehovah’s spiritual temple. (Ezekiel 40:1 to 47:2) Such mundane, earthly temples, though awe-inspiring to the human beholder, could never give the worshipers therein full discernment of the indescribable glory of Jehovah’s true, spiritual temple. This typing of the realities continued on until Jesus the Son of God was baptized in water and anointed with Jehovah’s spirit in 29 C.E. to be the promised Christ or Messiah.—Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:29-34.
27. How, in 29 C.E., did Jehovah’s true temple begin to have more than a typical representation of it on earth?
27 From that event onward Jehovah’s spiritual temple began to have more than just a typical representation of itself at Jerusalem. From then on it actually took on reality, by Jesus’ being anointed with God’s spirit to be a “high priest according to the manner of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:20; Psalm 110:4) Jesus Christ was brought into the spiritual condition as pictured by the first compartment or Holy of the temple, where the golden lampstand, the table of loaves of presentation and the golden incense altar were located. Also, he had come into the condition pictured by the temple courtyard for the priests, where the copper altar was located, and he had approached God’s altar equivalent for presenting his perfect human body as an atoning sacrifice for the “sin of the world.” So the antitypical Day of Atonement with respect to the real, spiritual temple of Jehovah had begun. (Hebrews 8:1 to 10:10) This procedure went on for three and a half years, till 33 C.E.
HEAVENLY TEMPLE GLORIFIED
28. How and when did Jesus Christ pass the barrier that was illustrated by the temple’s inner curtain, and for what purpose?
28 On Nisan 14 of the year 33 C.E., Jesus Christ as a spiritual high priest completed his sacrifice on earth, his dead body of flesh being entombed. On the third day therefrom, on Nisan 16, 33 C.E., he was resurrected from the dead as a spirit person, thus passing beyond the barrier that was pictured by the temple veil between the Holy and the Most Holy, namely, his flesh. Thus he was able to enter into the real Most Holy, into the presence of Jehovah God in heaven itself, there as high priest to present the value of his human sacrifice and make atonement for humankind.—Hebrews 9:23-28; 6:19, 20; 10:19, 20.
29. How was a glory imparted to Jehovah’s true temple by Jesus Christ’s appearance in God’s presence?
29 When this Jesus Christ entered into the real Most Holy of God, this imparted a glory to Jehovah’s real spiritual temple that it had never had before. For, look! now in His most holy presence there stood His everlasting High Priest, raised “in glory,” immortal, invested with the “power of an indestructible life”!—1 Corinthians 15:42-57; Hebrews 7:15-24.
30. When were others ushered into the condition pictured by the Holy of the temple, and how many will finally pass beyond the barrier pictured by the inner curtain?
30 On the festival day of Pentecost, Sivan 6, 33 C.E., the glorified Jesus Christ was used by Jehovah God to pour out the holy spirit upon his faithful disciples. (Acts 2:1-38) By this means they became spirit-begotten children of God and were anointed to be spiritual underpriests of the High Priest Jesus Christ. (John 3:3, 5; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20-27; 3:1, 2; 1 Peter 2:9) In accord with this they were brought into the priestly spiritual condition pictured by the Holy of the temple at Jerusalem to enjoy the light of the antitypical golden lampstand and the table of the loaves of presentation and to offer up the incense of prayer on the golden incense altar. (Hebrews 9:1, 2; Luke 1:8-12, 21, 22) The congregation of spiritual Israelites will finally number 144,000 spiritual underpriests, and at their resurrection from the dead they will be raised up each with a spiritual body, “in glory,” clothed upon with immortality, after Christ’s kingdom is established.—Romans 6:5; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.
31. How will this add to the glory of Jehovah’s spiritual temple?
31 By thus participating in the “first resurrection,” they will be ushered into the heavenly Most Holy; and “they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.” (Revelation 7:4-8; 14:1, 3; 20:4-6) By Jehovah’s granting these faithful spiritual Israelites such a glorious entrance into the Most Holy of his own presence, he will add a further glory to his spiritual temple such as it did not have before while the material temple of Zerubbabel as renovated by Herod was functioning on earth as a type.
32. What was the case of the outer courtyards of those typical man-made temples at Jerusalem, and till when?
32 In the days of those typical temples at Jerusalem their courtyards, outside the courtyard of the priests, were crowded with worshipers coming from far and near. (Psalm 84:1, 2, 10; Luke 1:21) Since the year 70 C.E. the throngs of worshipers stream up no more to the courtyards of Jehovah’s house of worship at Jerusalem, for the typical material temple for divine worship has vanished forever. (John 4:20-24; Acts 21:26-28; Matthew 24:1, 2; Luke 21:5-7, 20-24) The glory of the typical temples made with men’s hands has faded for all time, for now we are no longer living in the time of the shadows of good things to come. We are living in the days of the glorious realities that are enduring. (Colossians 2:16, 17; Hebrews 10:1-4, 10) But what of the courtyards of the true temple?
33. With regard to Jehovah’s spiritual temple, what are we in this time of rocking led to ask about the “desirable things of all the nations”?
33 Speaking of his real spiritual temple, Jehovah of armies used his prophet Haggai to foretell the coming in of the “desirable things of all the nations” into his house of worship. This would be at a time when the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land would be rocked. We are now nearing the spectacular climax of that time of universal commotion. It is now timely to ask, Have those desirable things actually come in from all the nations before these are rocked to pieces and removed? Yes!
34. How, then, have the courtyards of Jehovah’s spiritual temple been filled with a glory that they never had before?
34 Hundreds of thousands of them have “come in,” in the form of dedicated, baptized disciples of Jesus Christ. These he has brought in as his “other sheep” and made them to be “one flock” with the still surviving remnant of his spiritual underpriests at the courtyards of Jehovah’s temple. (John 10:16; Revelation 7:9, 10) As this unnumbered “great crowd” orderly render sacred service in the courtyards of Jehovah and ascribe their salvation to their enthroned God and to his Lamb, they are a sight that glorifies the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. They fill, not the churches and cathedrals of Christendom and the synagogues of Jewry, but the courtyards of Jehovah’s true spiritual temple with a glory that it has not had before. In very truth it has already come about that “the latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former.” (Haggai 2:9, RS) “The new glory of this Temple is going to surpass the old, says Yahweh Sabaoth.” (Je) “The future glory of this house shall be greater than the first.”—By.
PEACE AMID THE ROCKING
35, 36. (a) With what comforting words did Jehovah close his second prophecy through Haggai? (b) Was Jerusalem’s temple disposed of peacefully, and where does peace on earth obtain today?
35 Jehovah closed his second prophecy through Haggai with these consoling words: “‘And in this place I shall give peace,’ is the utterance of Jehovah of armies.”—Haggai 2:9.
36 In the year 70 C.E. the passing away of Jerusalem and the temple that had been built by Zerubbabel and renovated by King Herod was not peaceful, but occurred amidst a most horrible time of tribulation. (Matthew 24:1-22) But the real spiritual temple of Jehovah is a place of abiding peace. With regard to the correct carrying on of the meetings of true Christians at that spiritual house of worship, it is written: “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace. . . . let all things take place decently and by arrangement.” (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40) This rule of conduct is observed at the meetings of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses, so that the spirit of peace does prevail among them.—Galatians 5:22, 23.
37. Despite all the rocking round about, how is peace given in the courtyards of Jehovah’s house as regards the remnant and “great crowd”?
37 Whereas Jehovah of armies rocks the symbolic heavens, earth, sea and dry ground, he gives peace in the earthly courtyards of his spiritual temple. The anointed remnant of His spiritual underpriests attend strictly to their duties at His house of worship and keep free from all embroilment in the controversies and conflicts of this world. The “great crowd” of the “other sheep” that has streamed up to the “mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob,” have figuratively done what Isaiah 2:2-4 foretold about them. They have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They learn carnal warfare no more. In the approaching “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon, they will not lift up a hand in any violence against God’s enemies. They will let it be His war to fight, confident in His glorious victory. (Revelation 16:14-16; 2 Chronicles 20:15) By this course they manifest God’s spirit and display the “wisdom from above.”—James 3:17.
38. What prospect, once held before the frustrated temple builders in Haggai’s day, does the remnant of spiritual Israelites see being fulfilled world wide today, and what admonition is given to them?
38 How grand is the peace that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses enjoy today at his spiritual house of worship! How gladdening to the eyes it is for us to see the glory of Jehovah filling his spiritual temple as the “desirable things of all the nations” continue coming in! Long ago the prospect of such an amazing thing was held before the hearts and minds of the once frustrated builders of a new temple at Jerusalem by Jehovah’s prophet Haggai. Today we are actually beholding the wondrous fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy in these days when all the nations are being rocked, and this should spur on the anointed remnant of spiritual Israelites in their sacred service to Jehovah God at his spiritual house of worship. To this remnant the inspired exhortation applies for them not to forfeit the undeserved kindness of Jehovah as did the unappreciative Esau: “Wherefore, seeing that we are to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us continue to have undeserved kindness, through which we may acceptably render God sacred service with godly fear and awe. For our God is also a consuming fire.”—Hebrews 12:16, 17, 28, 29.
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