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The Unshaken Kingdom (Haggai 2:20-23)

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Scripture Reading

Haggai. We’re there. Starting at verse 20 of chapter 2.

The Word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month. Speak, speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I’m about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations and overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother. On that day declares declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you declares the Lord of hosts.

(Haggai 2:20–23)

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for your presence with us this morning That we can lift up your holy name and praise you that we can come together as your children to worship you the High King and thank you that you inhabit the praises of your people and Lord we pray that you would continue to bless the preaching of your word Not just from this pulpit but from pulpits worldwide God. We pray that you would bless our brothers and sisters in Belize. May they continue to be faithful. May they continue to press on. May they continue to put their hand to the plow and not look back. God give them the good works that you’ve created them to do and may they be faithful to do them. And may the same be true of us Lord the good works that you’ve created for us. May we walk in those. Whatever they might be, whatever you put before us Lord, let us take it up and carry it Lord gladly for you and help us this morning Lord to understand clearly your plan of salvation the work that you’re doing the work that you began and the work that you promise to complete and we say Maranatha—come Lord Jesus Amen.

Recap of Haggai’s Messages

This is the fourth message that Haggai gives in this book and it’s the last message and just as a recap if you remember for those maybe that haven’t been the last few weeks, but Haggai is one of the prophets that comes on the scene when the Israelites return from exile. And so Zerubbabel leads the first charge back, so to speak, the first wave, and that is the exile has ended. So now they’re on the scene and things are beginning to come about where God is raising up the Israelites.. And here, as we’re going to see, he’s setting with Zerubbabel to re-esteem the Davidic kingdom not on earth, but on earth for an eternity.

So here is the fourth message. It’s actually given on the same day as the third message. And all four messages actually cover about three and a half months. So unlike some of the prophets, every single time we get a date.

So verse 20, the word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai on the 24th day of the month. So we can, we can narrow that down to the exact, to the exact day. In this fourth message, God’s laying out things that he’s going to do in the future. Now the Old Testament prophets, they primarily had two things that they were called to do.

One was to foretell the future, right? Tell of the events that God had revealed to them that were yet to happen, but would happen. But they were also to forth tell the future. Foretelling has to do with telling things that have not yet come to pass but will, but foretelling, or excuse me, foretelling proclaims what God is saying now.

So the bulk of what most Old Testament prophets did was actually forth tell. So that’s why when you’re reading along in your Bible, whatever prophet you might be reading along, it’s like, thus says the Lord. And then what does he do? Talks about the idolatry of the people or the immorality of the people or the injustice of the people or the covenant unfaithfulness and the need for them to return.

So they did indeed foretell and that’s actually what Haggai is doing but he’s also foretelling specifically here a future kingdom to come. Now the third message which we looked at last week it ends with a hint of the Promised Land being blessed again and the focus is on the land. So look at verse 19 which This wraps up the third message. It says, is the seed yet in the barn?

Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing, but from this day on, I will bless you. So this third message hints with a promised land kind of hinting of the land being blessed. But in the fourth message, we find out it’s more than just regional land that’s blessed. Doing something more than just a small little area in the ancient Near East.

We get clarity as to what it is. This Promised Land is not just this small little space. It’s much bigger. And not only that, the Kingdom of David were promised, will return.

Remember with Jehoiachin, he was the last king and then the exile happens, right? It looks like the lineage in the Kingdom has fallen apart and failed. But here God is promising through Zerubbabel to raise up that Davidic Kingdom once again. But it’s not just an earthly kingdom as the Israelites may be thought.

It’s not even just local or regional. No, it says or are shaken. All right, and one of is not your birthday. Okay, you guys are special but you’re not that special.

The event.

A Future Kingdom Promised

All right, the first one is the Exodus. Look at Psalm 77. We’ll pick it up in verse 16.

When the water saw you, O God, when the water saw you, they were afraid.

Indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water. The skies gave forth thunder. Your arrows flashed on every side

(Psalm 77:16–17)

The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind. Your lightnings lighted up the world. The earth trembled and shook. Our way was through the sea.

Your path through the great waters. Yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.“ So notice in verse 18 right at the very end, the earth trembled and shook. We see the same thing a couple of Psalms earlier if you turn to Psalm 68.

Verse 7, Psalm 68, oh God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain before God, the one of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. So that’s the first time. In the Exodus, we get this imagery of the earth shaking. We kind of see it, we’ll look at it a little bit later, but we kind of see that exodus even a little bit seen again at Mount Sinai when the covenant’s being made.

It talks about the shaking, right? But it’s still kind of in the concept and the idea of the exodus. Here we see it also with the coming of David to the throne. So look, if you’re still in Psalms, look at Psalm 18.

Look at the intro or the preface if you will, it says, to the choir master, a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, right? So that’s the intro, right? But what do we know about these little intros and prefaces?

Sometimes like the Psalm earlier, Psalm 17, it just says the intro is a prayer of David, right? But what do we know about these these little intros or these prefaces. They’re actually in the original Hebrew texts. They’re there.

So it’s part of the scripture. This isn’t commentators later inserting this or saying, oh here’s what we think this psalm is about. No, this is actually in there. And so the Hebrew Bible actually always makes these verse one.

I’m not sure why we have done it differently, but we have. But just so you know, you see that in the Psalms and you see those those little intros or prefaces, that’s actually part of the scripture. So what does this, and it’s actually helpful because God is showing us what some of these Psalms are specifically about. Well, what is this Psalm about?

Well, notice what it says. “’On the day when the Lord rescued him ”’from the hand of all his enemies “’and from the hand of Saul.’” This is a Davidic Psalm establishing David as the king. Years and years and years, David was patient, trusted the Lord years and years and years go by. But here we get this Psalm.

Why? Because God’s taking care of all his enemies, including Saul. And so he is establishing David as the rightful King. King.

Well, what do we see? In verse six, in my distress, I called upon the Lord to my God. I cried for help from his temple. He heard my voice and my cry to him reached his ears.

And what do we see in the life of David over and over again? He is trusting the Lord. He knows that he is the rightful king. Does he try to grab it on his own?

No. And there’s a couple times where you’re reading along and you’re like, dude, you should just take Saul out Like you’re the rightful king. What does he do? He trusts the sovereign Lord that God will do it in his time and he knows the times not yet So what is he doing?

He’s crying out to the Lord. What does the Lord do? He hears his cry from his temple He heard my voice and my cry to him reached his ears Then the earth reeled and rocked the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quake because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth, glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew. He came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

He made his darknesses covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him, Hail stones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. The Lord also thundered in the heavens and the most high uttered his voice. Hail stones and coals of fire.

And he sent out his arrows and scattered them. He flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen and the foundation of the world were laid bare at your rebuke O Lord, at the blast of the breast of your nostrils. We’re getting to like a little history lesson here.

And it goes on and on and on. Verse 34, he trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. He’s talking about how God has made him ready for this moment to be the king. On and on, verse 35, , you have given me the shield of your salvation and your right hand supported me and your gentleness made me great, right?

So all of this is God’s name. That David is the rightful king. The kingdom, the lineage that we will eventually get to the Messiah is being set up through David. The throne is being established.

So this is what’s in view here back in Haggai. It’s really the bracketing theme of the whole series, verses 23-23. It reflects a, cosmic action. That’s the idea not just cosmic action, but cosmic divine action.

The. The Lord is one of them by the sword of his brother. That’s a big thing. Well, the future kingdom is a big thing.

Now think of this promise. This promise is coming to the Israelites after they’ve come back from the exile. Right now they’re small and they’re defenseless. 42,360 Israelites returned in the first wave. This is the first wave.

The second wave, like I’ve told you, I’ve told you it was smaller. The estimate is about 6 to 7,000. It doesn’t specify. What it specifies is the number of adult men, 1, So you can kind of extrapolate and get maybe 6,000 to 7,000.

That’s the second wave. That’s with Ezra. Third wave, that’s with Nehemiah, at best. I’m not even really sure if you can call it a wave.

We call it a wave. But that wave, at best, is just a couple hundred people. So the Israelites here, they’re puny. I mean, the most populated, or sorry, the least populated state in the US is Wyoming.

Its population is roughly 590,000. Population of a fallen Missouri is around 97,000 people. They’ve returned with 42,000 and here God is giving them this great promise. They’re clearly outnumbered.

But for God, it’s not a numbers thing. When God decrees something, guess what? It happens. He decrees it, and it happens.

God tells his prophet what will happen and it happens. God says it and it always comes to pass. Always, always, always. So when the Lord gives you a promise, I mean, you know he will fulfill it.

Is there any word that the Lord has given that he’s never been faithful to uphold or fulfill? No, every single promise, every single promise. So you got You got a heartache or hurt or challenging times or sorrow. What does he say in Revelation 21?

He will wipe away what? Every tear. Every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall be mourning nor crying nor pain, anymore, for the former things have all passed away.

So God gives a promise. He’s going to fulfill it. We serve a big God who always accomplishes his purposes. So whatever he wants to do, he does it.

God speaks for Moses, saying to Pharaoh in Exodus 9.16, for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Right, Pharaoh, hey, you got raised so that my name’s proclaimed in all the earth. You’re against me, but I’m gonna use you. In fact, I gave you your position, so my name can be proclaimed in all the earth.

Job 42 verse two, I know that you can, this is after he’s like been rebuked and put in his place. This is what he says. I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I like that word thwarted.

Right, no purpose of yours. You can’t throw it what the Lord wants to do. He wants to do something, he’s gonna do it. His ways cannot be thwarted.

Proverbs 19, 21, many are the plans in the mind of a man But it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. How many people have tried to take down God’s church and they failed over and over and over and over again? And many more will come and try. So take heart.

Here’s what he says in Isaiah 14 verse 24, the Lord of hosts has sworn, as I have planned, so shall it be. And as I have purposed so shall end. All right, so take heart. Like God, he’s got a purpose, like a specific purpose and a general purpose.

Specific purpose is for us, but then this general purpose and purpose is of things that he wants to accomplish and do. So take heart that God has a purpose that can’t be thwarted. Kingdom purposes can be thwarted. He always will you know Satan thinks he’s messing things up in the garden, right?

He thinks he’s winning He probably goes home to his minions that day right all happy that he’s just cause helped fall fallen man fall But God it’s the last word All the part of the plan so you got God’s kingdom here in Haggai This is about a future reign God side of this cosmic shaking event, the Lord will establish, one, a greater temple, chapter 2 verse 9, and restore hope for David’s throne, which is where we’re at now. Now think about it, the Promised Land, they come back in the Promised Land, it has other nations inhabiting it. There’s no way to defend themselves. There’s no standing army.

But what does God say? He mentions this thing in verse 23.

The Signet Ring Restored

He says to Zerubbabel, I will make you like a signet ring. Now Jeremiah says this like I said to Jehoiachan and God says I’ve taken off the signet ring from you, right? The rule, you’re going into exile. But the signet ring given back is signaling that the kingdom has returned, that God is establishing it and is holding true to His promise.

What did He give the promise to David over and over again? Your kingdom will last forever. Now, that’s not just an earthly rule. It’s a heavenly rule.

So big a deal is this, that it is a shaking of the kingdoms on earth for David’s heir to once again rise to prominence. Think about that. The promise is not that the kingdom has come to the rubable. Like he’s the sign, so to speak.

That’s not the promise. It’s rather God is promising to make him a sign of the kingdom to come. That’s the picture of the signet ring. It signified the rule.

So the Davidic Kingdom is being reestablished. Again, it’s not just earthly. This future shaking is compared to the shaking in the past.

Shaking Heaven and Earth

That’s why earlier in Haggai he says, yet once more, once more. Look at it yourselves because I want you all to see it. Verse 6, yet once more in a little while I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. Well what is that doing?

Again it’s referencing this deliverance of Israel from Egypt. So we’re back we’re back to the Exodus, this shaking. And it’s likely referencing the shaking that happens at Sinai. You know, if you need to make sure you read your Bible because it’s some interesting stuff that goes on when the thing, you know, we just think, oh, the Ten Commandments, right?

And then he comes down and he breaks. I mean, there’s some interesting stuff going on there. And you get this vivid imagery of what God is doing. But one of the things is that the earth is shaking.

So just as he shook the earth through the Exodus, when he came to make a covenant with Israel, so he will shake the earth again. Only now, it’s not just gonna be one mountain. It’s not just gonna be one people. Rather, in the new covenant, he’ll shake the whole earth.

And all the peoples will feel his power. What’s the original promise to the Israelites? Drive out the nations from the promised land. Well, now it’s much larger.

That’s not, again, this little area in the ancient near east. Now it’s all. Look back at the wording. What is the Lord going to do?

Overthrow the throne of kingdoms. Well, that’s pretty big, brothers and sisters. The original promise, drive out the nations from the promised land. It’s much larger now.

The view is expanded. The whole earth is in view. Now in Hebrews, if you turn there to Hebrews 12, This is the only place in the New Testament where Haggai is quoted. But he draws on this same imagery that we’ve been talking about here.

Hebrews chapter 12. I’m thankful for one pastor for his thoughts here. I’m going to paraphrase apart and I’m going to quote apart. In Hebrews 12 this is where Haggai is quoted starting in verse 25.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.“ I mean, that’s our hag, I quote.

Phrase, yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shaken.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

That is, things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And thus, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. So in Hebrews, he calls the people who have gathered to worship God to heed his voice.“ In fact, there’s only, what is there, like 40 verses or something in Haggai, probably a little bit less, and 17 times he talked about the Lord’s voice.

So Hebrews is drawing on this about the Lord’s voice, heed his voice. Verse 25, “’See that you do not refuse him who is speaking.’” I mean, he’s writing this to believers, it’s possible for believers to not receive the Lord’s voice, to not hear his voice, to reject the word that he gives. So he calls the people who have gathered to worship God to heed his voice, verse 25. In the next verse, he’s citing Haggai.

And what does he say? The things that are shakable are being removed, just like Haggai’s saying, says the unshakable things are now being established. And what does he say in verse 28? Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Notice the unshakable kingdom. By the time you get to the New Testament, the unshakable kingdom has entered into the shakable present through the person of Christ. So So he’s now perfected, right? What Hebrews, is about.

And he’s made indestructible through his resurrection. But this unshakable kingdom has entered into the shakable president through the person of Christ. When we talk about Jesus having a kingdom, we could talk about him having a present kingdom and a future kingdom. But as long as we’re clear that it’s the same kingdom, he doesn’t have like two different kingdoms.

Same kingdom. So Jesus has a present kingdom. Even if you think you’ve read the book of Mark before, right? Right in that first chapter, as long as you made it through the first chapter, you get this part.

Mark chapter one, in fact, turn there, but some of these things I want you to see for yourself. Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one, verse 14. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel. So Jesus comes to usher in the kingdom. Right? The kingdom of God is at hand.

Does it arrive in its fullness? No. It arrives in its infancy just as Jesus did. Later we see in Luke, what does he say?

The kingdom of God is in the midst of you. And the apostles then describe believers, right? They describe us. Colossians 1 13.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, all past tense, right? Delivered us, transferred us. That we’ve been transferred. It’s not a future transfer.

The transfer has already occurred. We’re part of that kingdom. So Christ is presently seated at the right hand of God. All things are under his feet.

The kingdom exists. It’s there and you are a part of that kingdom if you’re one of his. So there is a real present reign of Jesus. All right.

It’s spiritual, medatorial, exercised through the gospel of the church and the Spirit, but it’s not merely metaphorical. Think of what Jesus said, Matthew 28. And it says, Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. We could break that down.

We’ll just break down a little bit. One, notice all, right? All authority. Authority implies power.

All authority. It’s all authority. Not some authority, not a little authority. No, all authority.

Does anyone else have all authority? No. So all authority, but notice what it says, in heaven on earth has been given past tense. It’s already been given.

It’s not something he’s waiting on, no, he has all authority. Not a future authority. He has it now, and he exercises it now. All things in subjection to him.

Look at 1st Corinthians 15. We’ll pick it up in verse 22, 1st Corinthians 15 verse 22. For as, in Adam, all die. So also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Amen.

For each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. So what does he do?

He delivers the kingdom to the Father. Well, how can he deliver it unless it’s his? How can he deliver it unless he has all authority? Well, because he does have all authority.

So he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.“ Notice that this is a present reign. He must reign. That’s what he’s doing.

Until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things and subjection under him.

So God has put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet. And Paul is just clarifying. When it says all things are put in subjection, it’s plain that God the Father is accepted. He didn’t put himself.

That’d be silly. Who put all things in subjection under Christ? He’s just making that clear for us. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him, meaning the Father, to Him who put all things and subjection under Him, that God may be all in all

(1 Corinthians 15:23–28)

“ So all things, right?

The Son will also be subjected to Him. All things are subjected to Him. Once that happens, right? We see this transference, the kingdom’s being ushered.

Present and Future Kingdom

So there’s this, what some theologians call like this, already not yet tension, right? There’s things that we’re seeing, the kingdom’s here, but it’s not in its entirety, it’s not in its fullness, it’s in its infancy. What’s our problem, brothers and sisters? Well, we have a few problems.

Well, probably more than a few, but let me just mention one of them. We have a very weak view of Jesus, and we act like he’s still hanging on the cross, or if we don’t do that, act like he still hasn’t risen from the dead. We have a pretty pathetic view of Jesus. I’m talking about believers.

You know, in act nine, when Jesus appears to Paul, Paul falls to the ground. He’s not like, Hey, what’s up? No, he falls to the ground. Why?

Because he’s shaken. He’s startled. He’s surprised. Why?

Because the risen Jesus has appeared to him and this Jesus wasn’t some wimp. So what did Jesus say to Paul? Hey, I love you and I have a wonderful plan for your life. No.

He’s like, what are you doing? Why are you persecuting me? He doesn’t come all in meekness and gentleness. He’s blunt, he’s straightforward.

Paul’s been doing horrible things, murdering people. So Jesus is now reigning in heaven, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. So he has all authority, all authority. And if you have authority, you have power.

But we act like Jesus is still in the grave. It’s very pathetic, it’s wrong. It That is a great view of who Jesus is. What is he?

Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named.“ You know, we interact with Jesus much in the same way like the disciples did. Like, we’re okay to question Him like the disciples questioned Him, right? Peter tries to correct them. What does he say?

Get behind me, Satan. So we try to interact in the same way like the disciples did. Here’s the problem. They were around him in his veiled glory.

And we’re going back to Philippians a little bit here. But we get a glimpse of what the disciples do when his glory is momentarily unveiled in the transfiguration. I mean, that’s when they get to see, a few of them get to see Jesus in part in the unveiled glory, the transfiguration. And then we see them, like, they don’t know what to do.

They don’t know how to act. When we’re interacting with Jesus, yes, he’s our friend, what a friend we have in Jesus, great song, love it. But he is the risen King. And when we read in the scriptures about his coming reign, like he’s coming back and he’s going to take care of stuff.

And that’s kind of frightening if you’re not a believer. Because it talks about the wrath of the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb. So we need to make sure that we’re looking at Jesus’ right.

Because there’s different, what theologians call it, different states of Christ. Usually they break it down into two. I usually include a third one. The different states of Christ, there’s his pre-existence, which doesn’t always get mentioned.

Probably because they’re, I’m not sure why actually. But most of these See, his logins only talk about two, but there’s a third. It’s pre-existence, right? Before he was born as a baby, there’s this pre-existence of Christ.

Philippians 2, five and six, right? But then there’s what they call the state of humiliation. There’s three key areas when we talk about his state of humiliation. It’s the incarnation.

It’s his earthly life, right? He lives this life of poverty, weakness, temptation, obedience. There’s suffering, there’s sorrow. There’s his incarnation.

There’s his earthly life. That’s part of the state of humiliation. Then there’s death. That’s the climax of the state of humiliation.

Incarnation, earthly life, death. That’s where some people, believers, including, that’s where they get stuck. But then there’s the state of exaltation. That commenced with the resurrection, and it carries on forward.

That’s where he’s at now. There’s this state of exaltation. There’s three aspects to it. The resurrection, the ascension, right?

He ascends to heaven, and then what they call the session. It’s just from the Latin meaning sitting, or being seated, right? He’s seated next to the Father. So resurrection, ascension, session.

That’s how we need to make sure we see Jesus. High and seated on the throne. Seated next to the Father, Colossians 3. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

And then I already read in Ephesians that he worked in Christ when he raised them from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. I mean, the father is on his throne and Jesus is right next to them. And what are they doing? They are ruling this entire universe, the physical and the spiritual.

So yes, there’s this already not yet tension. The kingdom is here and yet the kingdom is still coming. As a standard way, the New Testament holds these kind of two together already, not yet. The kingdom has been inaugurated in the first coming.

That’s the death, the resurrection, and session of Christ. It will be consummated at His return. And both statements are true at once. So this promise is then for us when we’re talking in Haggai.

We have seen the inauguration. We’ve not seen the consummation, but it is going to arrive because Jesus does have this future kingdom. It’s the same kingdom, but He has a future kingdom. In Acts, very early on in chapter 1, it says, he spoke to them about the kingdom of God.

He wanted them to understand things and make sure they understood it. Even the Lord’s Prayer, right? “’Hallelujah, your name. ”’Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.’“ There’s the idea the kingdom has come, but the kingdom is coming.

So the New Testament does look forward to a still future arrival and public display of that same kingdom. So when we’re trying to wrap our mind around what that looks like, regardless of your end time eschatology, I mean, you look at first Thessalonians four, right, he’s coming in, the angels are blowing their trumpets. God’s doing amazing stuff. So the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.

That’s Revelation 11. So the final state is the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. It doesn’t matter again, your esch, homiline, post-millennial, premillennial, all those. He’s coming back and he will usher in the consummation of the kingdom.

So here’s where Haggai leaves us. We got this tiny remnant, no army, no throne, throne. A governor, Zerubbabel is really just a governor. He’s really not even even a king.

A b temple that looks small. And what does God say? I’m about to shake the heavens and the earth. And he looks at Zerubbabel and he says, I will make you a signet ring for I’ve chosen you.

This isn’t God handing Zerubbabel a crown He will wear forever as your rubable dies the Second Temple falls the nation’s keep raging the promise is bigger Than the man it always is God is putting the Davidic line Back on his finger. He’s putting the signet ring back on he’s saying the covenant is not cancelled that ring that was pulled off to a way Ken and Jeremiah is going back on and And that ring points past Zerubbabel, not just to Zerubbabel, it actually points past him to the son of David who actually wears it. Jesus is the signant. He’s the servant.

He is the chosen. He’s the one who carries the Father’s authority. Right? What does the signant ring do?

It proves two things. One, it proves ownership. And it stamps official documents. That’s Christ.

All the promises of God are yes and amen in him. When the father wants the world to know who rules, what does he do? He doesn’t hold up a politician, he doesn’t hold up a king, he doesn’t hold up a movement or a moment, he holds up the Son. That first shaking, that was at Sinai in the Exodus.

The second was David coming to the throne. Well, the greater shaking began when the greater David rose from the dead and sat down. That’s That’s why Hebrews takes Haggai and says, we are already receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We’re already receiving it.

Receiving present tense. The unshakable has already entered the shakable. The king has already seated. All authority in heaven on earth, it’s already been given to him.

Death is always already a defeated enemy on a timer. So our problem is not that the kingdom is too small. Our problem is that our view of Jesus is too small. We still talk to him like he’s hanging on the cross.

We pray like the tomb is closed. We worry like the nations have the last word. This is the humiliation only Jesus.

Living as Kingdom People

That is not the Jesus of Haggai. It’s not the Jesus of Hebrews. It’s not the Jesus of the empty tomb. What might come of our particular state or our particular nation?

God says he will come back and the gates of hell will not prevail. Times can get dark. There has been dark times since Christ returned 2000 years ago. It’s possible times might get dark again, but that does not remove Christ from the throne.

It does not negate any of his promises. The light will still shine in the darkness. So he was humiliated, the glory was veiled. He lived in poverty.

He had temptation. There was the cross. There was death, but then. Exaltation, but then resurrection, then ascension, and then session at the right hand of the father, intershading, governing, receiving worship, putting every enemy under his feet.

It’s the already and the not yet. Already you have been transferred out of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved son. That’s something that’s already happened. Not yet, every tear wiped away.

Every throne is not visibly overthrown. Death is not yet fully destroyed. Already though, the King reigns. Jesus reigns.

Amen. Christ is King. Not yet, the king returns. So that means two things.

One, take heart. God doesn’t need our numbers. He didn’t need 42,000 people returning to keep a promise. He could have done it with much smaller numbers.

He doesn’t need Wyoming-sized crowds or O’Fallon-sized platforms. No, he speaks and it stands. Heartache does not veto him. Do not veto him.

Your weakness does not veto him. Remember I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. The purpose standing behind Haggai is a king and a kingdom and that purpose will stand. Second live like citizens of the unshakable.

Stop building your peace on things God has already said he will shake. Careers shake, health shakes, nations shake, markets shake, but even good temples made with hands shake. Listen, brothers and sisters, the kingdom you have received, it does not shake. It doesn’t shake.

So be grateful, do what Hebrews says, worship with reverence in all. Obey when it costs. Hope when it hurts. Zerubbabel was a sign.

Jesus is the substance. The remnant was puny. The King is not. The land looked unfinished, the kingdom is not fragile.

So Haggai’s last word, it’s not try harder. Look back at Haggai so you can see it for yourself. It’s not try harder. What’s Haggai’s last words in chapter 2?

I have chosen. I have chosen. The Father has chosen His servant. That servant has all authority now, and if you belong to him, you’re already in the kingdom, that cannot be shaken.

So lift your eyes. Lift your eyes because the King of glory is on his throne and the King of glory is coming. Lift your eyes. The cross is empty, the tomb is empty, and the throne is occupied.

This God, Sinai, and who established David, who raised Jesus will shake every single thing that can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken remains. Guess what brothers and sisters, we’re part of what remains because we’re part of that kingdom. Therefore, since we’re receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be grateful and let us offer to God acceptable worship. For our God is a consuming fire.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Lord, we thank You for Your unshakable kingdom, for the promises that we have in Your scriptures, for the promises we have promises we have even in Haggai here, you chose your son to establish a kingdom. A kingdom that will never end. It started with David and it culminates in your son, seated on the throne, high and lifted up. So may we do that with you and your son. See you as you truly are, seated and on the throne, high and lifted up, majestic and and glory filled. May we lift up your name. May we take confidence not in ourselves but that we belong to an unshakable kingdom, whatever might come in this present life. Lord you and your kingdom cannot be shaken. So may we take heart in you, our great God and Father. Amen.