Haggai 2:8-The Silver and the Gold on Earth Belong to the Lord

Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke again through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Ask the following questions to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the remnant of the people: 3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison? 4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you citizens of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 5 Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my spirit even now testifies to you.’ Haggai 6 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says: ‘In just a little while I will once again shake the sky and the earth, the sea and the dry ground. 7 I will also shake up all the nations, and they will offer their treasures; then I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord who rules over all. 8 ‘The silver and gold will be mine,’ says the Lord who rules over all.” (NET)

Haggai 2:8 asserts that the silver on earth belongs to the Lord who rules over the armies as well as the gold.

He makes this statement in light of what He said in Haggai 2:7 that He will cause every one of the nations to be shaken so that all the wealth of these nations will be brought to Him.

He then asserts that the result of these nations bringing all their wealth to Him is that they will fill His temple with glory.

Therefore, if we compare these two verses, the Lord is asserting that He can cause these nations to bring their wealth to Him in order make His temple magnificent because all the wealth of these nations belongs to Him to start with.

The reference to silver and gold in Haggai 2:8 is figurative way of saying all the wealth of the world belongs to Him.

Haggai 2:8 would also serve as a reminder to the remnant of Judah as they completed the task of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem since it teaches that the Lord could provide for them the necessary financial resources to complete this task.

This assertion in Haggai 2:8 that the silver as well as the gold on earth belong to the Lord is reminder that personal finances are a stewardship for which each believer will give account to Him at the Bema Seat.

A steward is a manager, not an owner.

He is one who manages the property of another.

God is the owner and we are the managers of the various stewardships He has given.

This includes the whole of life, of course but to be good stewards of His grace, we must know the precise areas of stewardship for which God is holding us accountable.

Stewardship is one of four concepts related to Christian fellowship: (1) Relationship with Christ: We are all permanently united together by the common (eternal) life that we share as a result of regeneration and the Baptism of the Spirit (Acts 2:42; 1 C. 1:9; 1 Jn. 1:3). (2) Partnership: We are to work together for a common purpose to obtain common objectives for the glory of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 1:27; Phlp. 1:5; Gal. 2:9; Heb. 1:9). (3) Companionship: We are to communicate with one another and have fellowship with one another sharing with one another the things (viewpoint and thinking) of Christ (Acts. 2:42; Heb. 10:25; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess. 5:11; Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Thess 5:11; Phlm. 6). (4) Stewardship: We must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes.

Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need.

Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth. (Rom. 12:13; 15:27; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Heb. 13:16; 1 Tim. 6:18).

We must recognize that all we have belongs to the Lord and has been given to us as trusts from God to invest for His purposes.

Believers need to be willing to share their material possessions for the promotion of the gospel and to help those in need.

Everything that we are and possess as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, both spiritually and materially, namely, our time, talent and treasure are in fact, trusts given to us by God which we are to invest for God’s kingdom and glory (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11; 4:10-11; Luke 19:11-26).

Good stewardship stems from recognizing our relationship to Jesus Christ, but it also means recognizing our partnership in Christ’s enterprise on earth.

In any good partnership, the partners share equally in both privileges and responsibilities, the assets and liabilities, and the blessings and burdens.

The believer’s stewardship of treasure will also be evaluated by the Lord at the Bema Seat.

The believer also must be a good steward with money.

Scripture has a tremendous amount to say about money or material possessions. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money and it is interesting that one out of every ten verses in the New Testament deal with this subject.

Scripture has 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but over 2,000 verses on the subject of money.

Money is an extremely important issue because a person’s attitude toward it is so determinative of his relationship with God, on fulfilling his purpose in this life, and on his character.

Financial planning is biblical and is a means to good stewardship, to freedom from the god of materialism, and a means of protection against the waste of the resources God has entrusted to our care (Proverbs 27:23-24; Luke 14:28; 1 Corinthians 14:40).

Financial planning should be done in dependence on God’s direction and in faith while we rest in Him for security and happiness rather than in our own strategies (Proverbs 16:1-4, 9; Psalm 37:1-10; 1 Timothy 6:17; Philippians 4:19).

Financial faithfulness ultimately flows out of the recognition that everything we are and have belongs to the Lord (1 Chronicles 29:11-16; Romans 14:7-9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Life is a temporary sojourn in which Christians are to see themselves as aliens, temporary residents, who are here as stewards of God’s manifold grace.

Our spiritual gift, time and finances are all trusts given to us by God which we are to invest for God’s kingdom and glory (1 Peter 1:17; 2:11; 4:10-11; Luke 19:11-26).

One of God’s basic ways to provide for our needs is through work meaning an occupation through which we earn a living so we can provide for ourselves and our families (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12; Proverbs 25:27).

The money we earn is also to be used as a means of supporting God’s work and helping those in need, first in God’s family and then for those outside the household of faith (Galatians 6:6-10; Ephesians 4:28; 3 John 5-8).

Now, notice in Haggai 2:8, as he has done so often throughout this book, the prophet Haggai employs the proper noun yhwh (Yahweh) “Lord.”

As we noted many times, this word is the covenant-keeping personal name of God and is used here in connection with His covenant relationship with the Jewish people.

This is significant since this term is emphasizing the covenant relationship that the kingdom of Judah had with the Lord.

This word is also emphasizing the “immanency” of the Lord meaning that He involves Himself in and concerns Himself with and intervenes in the affairs of the citizens of the kingdom of Judah.

He is intervening here by empowering the souls of Zerubbabel, Joshua and the citizens of Judah to complete the task of rebuilding His temple in Jerusalem by being personally present with them.

Also, as was the case in Haggai 1:2, 5, 7, 9, 14, 2:4, 6 and 7 we have the expression the yhwh ṣĕbāʾôt (יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת), “the Lord ruling over the armies” here in Haggai 2:4.

The term “armies” (ṣābāʾ) pertains in this context to a military congregation as a large fighting or combat unit.

The word denotes a large organized body of armed personnel trained for war especially on land.

These armies refer to both human and angelic armies because we are speaking in the context of God.

Therefore, this expression “the Lord ruling over the armies” is speaking of the God of Israel’s sovereignty over all creation and every creation, both human and angelic beings.

This expression also emphasizes the divine origin of this statement here in Haggai 2:8 and would also be a reminder to this remnant of Judah that the God of Israel was in control and not the human rulers on the earth who might be hindering this rebuilding project or preventing them from performing this task.

If the God of Israel is the Lord ruling over the angelic and human armies, then the Lord is sovereign over the angels and mankind and over all of creation.

If the God of Israel wants the wealth of all the nations be brought to Jerusalem to make His temple magnificent during His millennial reign, He can do so because He is sovereign over human and angelic armies and all of creation and every creature.

Thus, no one and nothing can stop Him from having this take place in the future.

So therefore, this expression is designed to encourage the remnant of Judah to complete the task of rebuilding His temple in Jerusalem and reassure them of His presence as they completed this task.