They Should Concern Us

3, 4. Why should Haggai and Zechariah’s messages be of interest to us?

³ Certainly, the messages of Haggai and Zechariah were beneficial to the Jews of their day, and their prophecies had a fulfillment back then. Why, though, can we be sure that these two books should be of concern to us today? We find a clue at Hebrews 12:26-29. There the apostle Paul quotes from Haggai 2:6, which speaks of God’s “rocking the heavens and the earth.” The rocking would ultimately “overthrow the throne of kingdoms and annihilate the strength of the kingdoms of the nations.”​—Haggai 2:22.

⁴ In quoting Haggai, Paul states what is to happen to “the kingdoms of the nations” and speaks of the superiority of the unshakable Kingdom that anointed Christians will receive. (Hebrews 12:28) You can see from this that the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah point to a time that was still future when the book of Hebrews was written in the first century of our Common Era. There still is on earth today a remnant of anointed Christians, who are heirs of the Messianic Kingdom with Jesus. Hence, Haggai and Zechariah must have import for our time.

21. (a) In ancient times, how did God “rock all the nations,” and how did “the desirable things” come out? (b) What is the modern-day fulfillment?

²¹ At Haggai 2:5, the prophet reminded the Jews of the covenant that God established with them at Mount Sinai when “the whole mountain was trembling very much.” (Exodus 19:18) In the days of Haggai and Zechariah, Jehovah was going to cause another shake-up, as described in the figurative language of verses 6 and 7. The state of affairs in the Persian Empire would become unsettled, but the work at the temple would move ahead to its completion. Non-Jews, “the desirable things of all the nations,” would end up glorifying God along with the Jews in that place of worship. In a major way in our time, God has ‘rocked the nations’ by our Christian preaching, and “the desirable things of all the nations” have come in to worship God alongside the anointed remnant. Truly, the anointed and the other sheep together are now filling Jehovah’s house with glory. Such true worshippers await with faith the time when Jehovah will ‘rock the heavens and the earth’ in another sense. That will be in order to overthrow and annihilate the strength of the kingdoms of the nations.​—Haggai 2:22.

22. How are the nations being ‘rocked,’ with what result, and what is yet to occur?

²² We are reminded of the upheaval that has occurred in different elements pictured by “the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry ground.” For one thing, Satan the Devil and his demons were hurled down to the vicinity of the earth. (Revelation 12:7-12) Additionally, the preaching spearheaded by God’s anointed ones has certainly rocked the earthly elements of this system of things. (Revelation 11:18) Despite that, “a great crowd” of the desirable things of all the nations have joined spiritual Israel in serving Jehovah. (Revelation 7:9, 10) The great crowd work alongside anointed Christians in preaching the good news that soon God will rock the nations at Armageddon. That event will open the way for true worship to be brought to its perfected state earth wide.