That is NOT what God said in Haggai 1:7-8. God was actually REPROVING the people for having neglected to finish His house. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord."
What makes you think he was talking about the temple of stone?
God does not dwell in houses built by human hands.
God told the people in Haggai 2:9 (LXX) "In this place will I give peace, saith the Lord Almighty, even peace of soul for a possession to everyone that builds, to raise up this temple." Though the glory of Solomon's temple was called "great", the glory of that latter temple would exceed the former, because the incarnate Son of God would be standing in that temple in years to come.
Which has absolutely nothing to do with God never asking for the temple of stone to be built and the fact God does not dwell in houses made by human hands. Haggai 2 is being used as a red herring and being rendered in absence of what the NT states about this OT text. God never wanted the monarchy, either, but once it was established (in disobedience) He worked with it, just as He has always done when His people settle for second best, their will and not God's. As I previously posted, God couches His work in the covenant promises (see Haggai 2:5), and God concludes His revelation with, "
The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”
In that place Christ was crucified and the temple God always intended to be built was raised.
Haggai 2 is messianic.
Satan's "short time" that was coming to an end was not the only thing wrapping up in that "last hour".
And what did I say about that?
As I already mentioned above....
Yes, so stop repeating yourself and address the point I made about measuring the last hour by the work of Satan and not the work of God.
, Israel's "last state" and "latter end" as the "holy people" was ending at the same time.
Bloodline Israel was
never God's holy people beyond the mere fact of physical separation. Those who believe in Jesus, the temple of God that God built, are God's holy nation.
1 Peter 2:4-9 (excerpted)
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed..... But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Hebrews 11:39-40
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
All those OT individuals mentioned in Hebrews 11 looked forward to Christ, not a brick building. They are made perfect in "
us," those to whom God spoke in the last days (
Heb. 1:2), those who will inherit salvation (
Heb. 1:14). The reason the temple was destroyed -
every occasion when the temple was destroyed - it was because God never wanted a temple of stone, God does not dwell in temples made by human hands, the temple itself was an abomination, and the Jews building a temple was an act of fleshly disobedience. Peter and the author of Hebrews are referencing several OT sources. Haggai should not be read as something that exists apart from, or contrary to, God's Christological purpose in creation. The only temple God ever had in mind was the one
He would build by
His own hands.
2 Samuel 7:5-7
Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’
Was David the one who would build a house in which God would dwell? When did God ever ask, "
Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?" The answer to both those questions is "
No!"
2 Samuel 7:11
The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you.
It does not get more explicit than that. God told David He, God, would build the house AND that house would be for His people. David had it backwards. David wanted to build a house for God but God does not need such a house, or want such a house, and he explicitly stated He does not dwell in houses built by human hands. The entire account of David's desire to build God a house is a record of how far David was slipping into fleshly works. God loved David in spite of it.
The word "
Israel" means "
God perseveres." God first used the word "
Israel," in reference to Jacob, the man who'd wrestled with God, the man who God broke in order for the man to be useful, the man God loved before he was even born. His progeny - those who trusted God's covenant promises - became known as the "
sons of Israel" and, later, the "
house of Israel." Look it up in your Bible and verify what I just wrote. Very few mentions of "
Israel" have anything to do with the bloodline, geo-political nation-state called "
Israel." The name "Israel" is used only three times in Revelation and not one of them refers to the geo-political nation-state Israel. When the Jews protested Jesus and his teachings by appealing to their bloodline they were told God can makes sons of Abraham out of rocks. The phrase "
nation of Israel," appears very late in the chronology of God's use of that name and even that phrase is often a reference to the holy nation God promised, the nation of priests.
Which is why I couched the last hour in the covenant promises, and not Satan or the works of sinful Jewish flesh.
As a matter of fact, the gift of tongues....
More Dispensationalist-like subject changing that avoids the point of discussion.
Why define the last hour by Satan or the works of sinful Jewish flesh? Why not define God's metric by God's work, God's purpose(s), and/or God's promises?
This is all that is being asked of you. This is important because this gets to the presuppositions of your position. No one starting with flawed assumptions is going to reach a sound conclusion. Here's an example of what I am taking about, what I am asking about. I have a study Bible that reports
Romans 12:20 is a reference to an Egyptian shaming ritual in which a person would throw ashes upon their head, covering themselves in ash to demonstrate their shame. That's what is reported in the footnote for that verse! There's no mention of
Proverbs 25:21-22, or
Matthew 5's Sermon on the Mount, or even
Psalm 140:10! In other words, the authors of this (well-known) study Bible abjectly failed to provide
any exegesis, exposition of the Judeo-Christian cultural practices and, rather than seek out God's word defining God's word, the authors
appealed to a pagan ritual to explain Paul's commentary! You have at least
(commendably) used God's word to define God's word but you're appealing to the adversary to define God's word and I think that is a
presuppositional mistake (especially since the covenantal promises are a much better alternative.
So.....
Tell me why defining John's "
last hour," - the last hour God inspired John to label that way - should be defined by what Satan was doing, and not God.
