Verses 20 – 23 – Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring
“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;”
This final word of Haggai is a word that of course suffers no interpretation of any other day except the last day. Zerubbabel alone is mentioned now and Joshua is no longer in sight, for this word applies to our Lord as Governor of Judah, as Ruler of God’s people, as the One set in authority over us, rather than as Saviour. Not that we forget He is our Joshua, our great High Priest, but only that in the final events He will be revealed as Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, ruler of the people Israel, for all authority and power has been given to Him and it only wants His return to reveal the matter. God has shown that in the last day He will shake both the heavens and the earth to bring about the rapture of the Church, the Bride of Christ, and the destruction and overthrow of all the existing order of things to establish the rule of Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, whom we know as Governor of Judah. To Haggai in particular, as peculiarly the prophet of the last days, is the word of the Lord revealed. As once before, in the last days of Moses, our Lord could read the words of Isaiah and say, “This day is this scripture fulfilled,” so the day fast approaches when as Governor of Judah our Lord will read again in our ears this prophecy of Haggai and say, “This day is this scripture fulfilled.” And in that day God will shake the heavens and the earth.
“And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen: and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them: and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.”
It is all there in one verse, the end of all we know as our world. The thrones will topple and the kingdoms collapse, their strength departed and their misery great, utter ruin and devastation and destruction on every hand. We all know it could happen, and we all know it could be accomplished in one day now in this our own generation. The only thing we do not know is WHEN, but that it will happen is absolutely certain, as any unbiased observer of the contemporary scene could judge for himself. That it is only the kingdoms of the heathen that shall fall assures us that Israel shall not be overthrown, nor Judah destroyed in the cataclysm. Again, every one of the kingdoms shall be destroyed ‘by the sword of his brother,’ God using man against mankind to execute His judgment and bring about His purposes. Do not say it could never happen, for the world stands in peril of its overthrow now daily, and sane men have given up hope in face of the awful facts. If the word of the prophets fails to convince you, and the word of the apostles is wasted on you, and the testimony of the Church does not stir you, read the history of man on this earth and then dare to stand up and say it could never happen.
“In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerrubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Before Haggai will quit the stage as the one who brings us the word of the Lord let him point us to Christ and let him point our Christ to us, for this is the work of all the prophets of God. “Zerubbabel” is the final Word, the last Voice, the Servant, the King’s Son, chosen of God to be the Signet, to set the seal on the overthrow of the heathen. Haggai would not leave us without pointing us to the Governor of Judah and if you fail to see that he is speaking only of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ you can reckon yourself spiritually blind, for who else has been chosen of God as the signet or seal of the overthrow of this world? The very expression “Lord and Saviour” can be equally written “Zerrubbabel and Joshua.” But we know that in the last day our own personal Saviour, our great High Priest who has gone into the heavens, will appear as King and Lord of all, as “Zerubbabel,” having all power and all authority, to set the seal of God on man’s dominion and to bring to an end the prophecy of Haggai. “In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.” And notice it, the expression “saith the Lord” occurs three times, for nothing is surer than the threefold word of God.
