God’s greatest promise
God’s promises are true and come to pass as he makes them. He made the greatest promise to us of sending a savior, and he came. The promises of the Savior are written throughout the Old Testament for his people to know, and their fulfillment is seen in the New. In Genesis, God speaks unto the serpent, Satan, telling him that the Messiah is going to step and crush his offspring’s head (3:15). The promise of Christ’s triumph over the enemy came true. Then the prophet Isaiah tells us that a virgin would give birth to the Savior his name would be Immanuel; God with us (7:14). We find the fulfillment of the desired one of the nations the prophet Haggai speaks about in the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. God’s greatest promise and fulfillment is the ultimate example of his faithfulness in keeping the promises. Luke tells us in the letter to the Hebrews to hold on to our profession, because he who made the promises to us is faithful (He 10:23).
Haggai 2:6-9
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;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
God’s people were tasked with the impossible task of rebuilding Solomon’s temple. Salomon’s temple was built without the noise of construction. The builders pre-built its pieces and assembled them when they arrived at the site. This temple housed the Arc of the Covenant. The altar was lit with fire that descended from heaven. The presence of God known as the Shekinah filled it at the dedication ceremony. The temple was a huge building: 180′ wide and 80′ long. The temple that Zerubbabel built was not to be compared to the first (Ha 2:3). Older Jews commented the temple was a poor substitution for the original. Zerubbabel did not have the resources Salomon had to build this temple, out of what he had he and his people built it.
Solomon’s temples’ physical attributes and glory could be not compared to Zerubbabel’s. God promised Zerubbabel that the temple he built would have greater glory than the one Solomon built without the physical constructs. Zerubbabel’s temple was where Jesus the Messiah walked and taught. It was the symbol of the spiritual temple and of the believer (1 Cor 6:19-20). Jesus said that there was no longer a fixed place to worship God. Worshippers will now worship God in spirit and truth (Jh 4:24), was what Jesus told the Samaritan woman.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Haggai 2:3
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
John 4:24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.