HAGGAI - PROPHET OF PEACE
Haggai – Prophet of Peace
“The Glory of Unshakeable Peace”
June 20, 2010 – Tuesday Morning Bible Study 10/27/2026
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Global shaking has begun. Wars, financial shakings, thrones of nations overthrown, floods, out-of-control climate changes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, earthquakes, and volcanoes are the travail of natural creation, the birth pangs of a new day.
Political shaking in the United States has caused a global shaking of nations economically as well as international power shifts.
“Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” (Heb. 12: 28-29)
Only a remnant in our nation fears the Lord. Churches no longer preach this reverential, godly fear. I fear God. Once a person has experienced the Hand of God on their life, they will always fear the LORD--- not his wrath, but the fear of grieving Him.
This shaking of the heavens and earth will resurrect the army of the Lord and release all things into one! The present move of the Holy Spirit will revive the fear of the Lord.
1 Cor. 15:58: Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The Book of Haggai is Messianic.
Over 500 years before Messiah’s birth, the Voice of a young prophet is about to pierce the ironclad allegiance of a people determined to preserve their lukewarm lifestyle. The living Word is postured and focused to revive the original vision of the God of Abraham and David.
Like Noah and John-the-Baptist, Haggai, the prophet of reconstruction,-was a no-holds-barred preacher of repentance. Very little is known about this man who preached in the sixth, seventh, and ninth months of 520 B.C. Zachariah brought a confirming word in the eighth and eleventh months of the same year (Zech. 1: 1, 7).
Haggai challenged the people to build Zerubbabel’s temple. Zechariah encouraged them to behold the spiritual temple, the Messiah’s Church. Haggai was practical, with his feet on the ground. Zechariah was visionary, with his head in the clouds---they were a great combination.
Nothing is known about Haggai’s life, before or after his public ministry. His place in time is marked by the word he prophesied within a six-month time period. Haggai is called “the prophet” five times and the Lord’s messenger” once (Hag. 1:13). No seer ever appeared at a more critical juncture in Jewish history, nor was any-- more successful. Nothing is known about his family or social circumstance, not even his father’s name. Jerome’s commentary suggests a Levitical descent; tradition buried him with honor near the sepulchers of the priests.
Haggai means “the joyous one, festal one, rejoicing; feast of Jehovah.” The foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple was laid amidst shouts and tears of joy (Ezra 3:12; 5:16); it was God’s desire that the remnant continues and completes their labors in a festive spirit.
Zerubbabel and Joshua were great men (chosen by the Lord), who had allowed their courage to smolder like flax, smothered by political pressure of correctness. They had fallen short, stumbling up the rocky path to Zion.
Disillusionment and weariness had replaced the exhilarating sense of adventure that once marked their spiritual beginnings.
Interwoven among the declarations concerning Zerubbabel’s temple are prophecies pertaining to the real spiritual temple, the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ and His glorious Church.
At the time this prophecy came forth, most of God’s people were more interested in temporal prosperity than their spiritual destination.
Haggai’s community had immigrated from Babylon then allowed worldly mixture to consume their spiritual zeal. Apprehended ones embrace the Lord with the same intensity with which he has embraced them. Those who attempt the work of the Lord with their own wisdom and strength eventually faint.
The prophet’s rebuke instigated the divine remedy. The remnant was to ascend the mountain, bring fresh timber and build His House.
Hag. 1:8: Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the Lord.
Haggai 1:1-4 records Jehovah’s rebuke. Verses 5-11 unfold His remedy, and verse eight is His key to it.
“Go up” to move from a lower to a higher place; to rise up or ascend; to take a journey.
The “mountain of the Lord prefigures the “heavenly places of Ephesians 1:3 and 2:6; there, all is God’s. To “go up” is to extend one’s borders, to enlarge one’s heart for greater vision. It is to ascend the hill of the Lord, to go up to Jerusalem, to Zion. To “go up” is to participate in a higher dimension of spiritual warfare.
To “go up” to the mountain is to participate in Jesus’ most excellent ministry, the royal priesthood; a family of prophets, priests, and kings (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6).
It is to worship the Most High God with the most high saints in the Most Holy Place. To go up is to press the upward calling, to sit down as an overcomer in His throne of grace, and mercy seat. To go up to the mountain is to become a living sacrifice, a whole burnt offering.
Get God’s vision for your life, and then present your body to him.
The “mountain” is a symbol for the Kingdom of God, especially with regard to Mount Zion. We are to ascend into the heavenlies, the realm of the Spirit.
Five mountains loom up before the Church.
1. Mount Moriah---Kingdom sacrifice.
2. Mount Sinai---Kingdom obedience.
3. Mount Olivet---Kingdom prayer
4. Mount Calvary---Kingdom compliance.
5. Mount Zion- Kingdom authority.
Moriah is the place where God commences to build Himself into us. From the start of our climb, we must know that His Kingdom, like the “full price” of Ornan’s threshing floor, will cost us everything. There is no room for cheap religion on this first mountain. We need not fear; Jehovah-Jireh will “see” and then “provide” Himself for the required offering. Jesus was our Ram of sacrifice.
Sinai is the second mountain and means “cliff, deep ravine, precipitous, sharp, and jagged.” There the finger of God imparted the law. Once committed to be a living sacrifice, the Church must scale the dangerous heights of Sinai. There the law of God is written on the fleshly tables of our hearts. The deep ravines of legalism and license are all about, but the royal law of Christ’s life is a perfect
compass. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. He is the unbroken tables of the Law.
Olivet is the third mountain and means “an olive, the tree, the branch, or the berry.” Olivet is the mountain of Kingdom prayer. Our upward calling to become a living sacrifice requires walking in obedience. The secret to scaling the path of life is the prominent practice of intercessory prayer; else we may faint in our ascent. Prayer brings illumination and spiritual understanding. Olivet is the ascent of tears. We will weep as we go up. Men ascend Olivet barefooted.
2 Sam. 15:30: David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went.
Calvary is the fourth mountain. This is the mountain of complete Kingdom compliance---full surrender to do the Father’s will. There Jesus Christ, the Horn of our salvation was crucified. Sacrifice, obedience, and prayer bring us to the foot of the cross, the point of denial and death of self. Going forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach, we discover the grace to forgive all men, to commit our spirits into the hand of the Father.
Zion, the fifth mountain is the crest of the summit. This is the mountain of Kingdom authority. In the New Testament, Zion is the Church. It designates the overcomers within the Church, those apprehended for the high calling, destined to rule, and reign with Him from the mercy seat within the veil.
Moriah, Sinai, Olivet, Calvary…all these predicate mount Zion, catching us up to the throne of God. The triumphant Church who identifies with the fellowship of His sufferings will know Him in the power of His resurrection and exaltation. Go up, ascend, awake, arise! The required materials to build the house of the Lord cannot be found in this present dimension. Wood symbolizes humanity. When a man ascends the hill of the Lord, he carries his own humanity, working out his own salvation with fear and trembling. The Lord lays the ax to the root of our being on the top of the mountain (Mt. 3:10). This is the great exchange, our wood for His. Mere human wisdom and strength can never receive His pleasure or contain His glory. Our intellect, emotions, and will must be lugged to the top of Moriah, and then burned with fire.
We go up the mountain with our old life and return with new timber; His new life---a new heart, a new mind, a new tongue.
2 Tim. 1:9: Who has saved us and called us to a holy life---not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace…
Moses and the elders ascended the mountain and saw the glorious Church, “the body of heaven in His clearness.” Ex. 24:10: They saw the God of Israel and there under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness.
Go up to the mountain and bring down His life. The Tree of life is Jesus Christ. Go up to the mountain and bring wood, then build a house for God’s pleasure and glory.
Haggai is calling them to rebuild the house of the Lord, (his dwelling place). Today the Lord is calling us to give him place in our house for God’s pleasure and joy.
Men shadow box demons when it is the Lord with whom they must contend.
The Lord allows chastisement in our lives to adjust us back to His primary purposes. We can be very busy erecting irrelevant things, distractions, and secondary goals. Even the remnant Church can go off course and strive for that which does not gratify.
Haggai,was a man on a mission, a heavenly ambassador with but one message, one idea. The prophet represented Jehovah-Tsebaoth, “the Lord of Hosts,” the source of all power, the Controller of armies on earth and in Heaven. The weather obeyed His commands. Hag. 1:11: I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all labor of the hands. The whole universe was in His grasp and would one day be shaken by His mighty Hand. Hag. 2: 6, 21: For thus says 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.
Haggai’s prophecies divulge the purpose of unshakeable peace---the whole man. The finishing of Zerubbabel’s temple points to the complete formation of Christ’s divine nature within the church, the Body of Christ, the Father’s permanent abode of living stones, eternal in the heavens. Our redemption in Christ will save us to the uttermost---spirit, soul, and body.
Haggai’s second address (Hag. 2: 1-9) was a word of encouragement to Zerubbabel and Joshua about the temple’s completion. This second utterance was directed to the aged refuges.
2: 4-5: He prophesies the new Testament temple would exceed Solomon’s in magnificence; the silver and gold belong to Jehovah (2: 7-9). The LORD upset Egypt in the days of Passover; He would yet shake the heaven and the earth (2: 5-7). The desire of all nations would come forth in the day when the latter house was filled with His glory and peace 2: 7-9: The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the Lord of Hosts, and in this place will I give peace, says the Lord of Hosts.
First, natural resources are shaken loose (Deut. 8:18; Ps. 49:10). The natural riches of the nations and denominations will flow into His one holy Nation. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just (Prov. 13:22). The creativity of the Holy Ghost will produce an abundance. Jesus Christ is our heavenly Joseph. He is the Lord of the harvest. He is a mighty man of wealth (Gen. 41: 37-46).
Worldwide shaking will shake loose the “silver” and the “gold.” That happened when Moses and the Israelites bankrupted Egypt and received 400 years of back wages. Similarly, the edict of Cyrus released funds to rebuild Zerubbabel’s Temple. God’s abundance is wealth to be distributed by which every nation is to be evangelized with the gospel of the Kingdom.
The third address (Hag. 2: 10-19) was a word of correction to the priests about the temple’s worship. The faint aroma of sanctity coming from their altar’s sacrifices was too feeble to pervade the secular atmosphere of their daily lives. Working on the sanctuary would not make them holy; rather, their attitudes had desecrated God’s house and spoiled their efforts (2:14). The people had failed to respond to Jehovah’s disciplinary judgment.
Haggai’s final address was the special word of promise to Zerubbabel about the temple’s strength and the Messiah’s authority. This prophesies the overthrow of Gentile powers (2: 21-22). The governor of Judah would become God’s signature ring of total authority and government (2:23).
Philippians 4:7; 9: ‘The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus… Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you.
The peace of God shall keep you!
The God of peace shall be with you!
The peace of God is only part of the blessing unless we have the God of that peace resident in us.
A carnal heart could be satisfied if he might have outward peace, (drama and pressure free life). Peace can be a place like living alone in a cabin on a mountain surrounded by snow with no one but solitude with God. For the Godly heart, outward peace is not enough. I must have the peace of God. Will that not quiet my soul? No, I must have the God of peace.
In order to be fulfilled, I must enjoy God who gives me the peace. I must have the cause as well as the effect. I must see from whence my peace comes and enjoy the Fountain of my peace, as well as the stream of my peace.”
The Holy Spirit fills our heart with Christ Jesus and therein dwells the fullness of peace. Like Faith, Hope, Love, and Joy, the Peace of God is a visitation of the treasures of God’s Kingdom of unshakeable Peace.
Most of all King Jesus is the source of unwavering peace (Eph. 2:14)! Haggai speaks to our generation concerning the restoration of God’s house and the glorious One who lives there. Zion, the Kingdom of God, will never be moved (Ps. 125: 1-2). It is the habitation of God, the place of unshakeable peace and unbroken covenant.
This prophecy unfolds the deep things of God. Yet his simple message is that God will complete His purposed will in each of our lives! This absolute truth is confirmed by Zechariah and in both Testaments.
Zech. 4:9: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you.
Hag. 2:7: I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory says the Lord of hosts.
This shaking of all nations has a singular result: The Desire of all nations shall come! The “Desire of all nations” is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, our precious Savior.
This includes His Body in union with Him. This is His elect out of nations, those whom God has from eternity foreknown and predestined, and whom in time He calls, justifies, and glorifies (Ro. 8:29-30). Christ in and among all of us is the hope of glory. God’s covenant. The new creation reality of the finished temple is the formation of Christ within an overcoming people. (Gal. 4:19)
Haggai 2:22: I will overthrow the throne 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, everyone by the sword of his brother.
The overthrowing of all nations is defined in Haggai 2:22 as the complete overthrow and destruction of the throne and strength of all heathen kingdoms. God rocks the heavens, the earth, the sea, and finally, the “dry land” or “desert,” parched or ruined through drought. The Bible clearly defines the “dry land” to be rebellion and wickedness (Ps. 68:6l Ezek 30:12).
2:23: In that day, says the Lord of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and will make you a signet; for I have chosen you says the Lord of Hosts.
The “signet ring” vision is to be fulfilled in “that day,” a familiar phrase to the prophets. “That day” in the Old covenant is “this day” in the New Covenant. The broad sense of “this day” is the New Testament day. The present application of “this day” is the third day, the Day of the Lord, the day when he comes to be admired and glorified in His holy habitation (2 Thess. 1:10). The use of “that day” is most prominent among the prophets, especially the book of Isaiah, Zachariah, Amos, Micah and Malachi.
The special word to the governor of Judah is, “I will take you…and will make you…” (Hag. 2:23). This truth is illustrated by Jesus in the “lost and found” chapter---Luke 15---a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son. The latter is the story of two prodigals, one who strayed and one who stayed. (Luke 15: 11-20). The initial cry of the younger son was “give me”! Content to leave home with but part of his inheritance, he wasted his substance with riotous living. When he repented and returned to his father’s house, his cry was “make me…”
Zerubbabel is to be taken or apprehended as the chosen of God. The verb for “make” means “to take, grasp, take hold of.” The applications throughout the Word for “make” refer to the last Adam, the federal head of the new creation. Our King is the set Man in Zion, the word forever settled in heaven. Only God can make us to become like Jesus.
When the apostle Paul admonished us to have the mind of Christ (Phil. 2: 4-5), the heart attitude of genuine humility, he recaptured the essence of Haggai’s prophecy. Every man was running to his own private life while the house of God lay waste. Those who wear Zerubbabel’s signet ring look to the interests of the Lord and His purposes in the earth. True Israelites who have power with God and men are servants of all. Our apostolic boast is we are part of the privileged class---the slaves of Jesus (Rom 1:1).
Zerubbabel was a seal guaranteeing the fulfillment of God’s promise given to David (2 Sam. 7: 12-16). He was chosen, not by the people or even mighty Cyrus. This petty prince from Judah (Ezra 1:8), a small, impoverished nation under foreign dominance, was honored by the Supreme Ruler, the Lord of hosts. Sheshbazzar, born and so named in Babylon, was a prominent link in the illustrious Messianic chain extending from King David to King Jesus (Mt. 1:1, 12-13).
The signet was a precious stone on which was engraved the name, some identifying emblem, or design of the owner. A medallion or ring featured a raised or recessed signature or symbol that could be impressed on wax or moist clay.
The seal or ring was an official’s personal signature. Pharaoh gave his signet to Joseph as a badge of delegated authority (Gen. 41;42).
The signet was an emblem of royal authority, a most prized possession, the power of attorney.
All this reveals the Preciousness and power of Jesus’ name. Every ring requires a finger. Jesus compared “the finger of God” (Lk 11:20) with “the Spirit of God”. Matt. 12:18: Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
Zerubbabel typifies the Messiah and his glorious church as the “chosen” or elect of God (Mt. 12:18; 1 Pet. 2:4), the house where God has foreordained to pour out the glory of unshakeable peace. Being chosen by God brings people into an intimate relationship with Him (Deut. 14: 1-2). God’s choices shaped the history of Israel, led to their redemption from Egypt (Deut. 7: 6-8); sent Moses and Aaron to work miracles there and gave the Levites to bless in the name of the Lord. (Deut. 21:5).
All truth concerning the “seal” originate in the Pattern Son. Jesus Christ could not be sealed by the strongest governments of this world. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God. There is no government on earth that has the authority to take away our liberty. They did not give it to us and they cannot take it away. Our heavenly Zerubbabel was stamped with the father’s approval. Jesus has the signet. Jesus is the signet! Both testaments set forth his sovereign authority over all things. He alone wears the signature-ring, having been given jurisdiction over heaven and earth. The Old Testament attests to His government (Mic. 5:2) especially in the book of Psalms and Isaiah.
Dan.7:14: There was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
The One who has all might and power has purposed to share it with His eternal companion of like nature and ability, the Bride of Christ! We have been predestined to be joint-heirs of His grace and life. By Him kings reign and princes decree justice (Prov. 8:15). He has placed His covenant ring upon our finger.
The persons “sealed” are secured from destruction and marked for reward!
The purpose of unshakeable peace is to complete the real temple to save the whole man---spirit, soul, and body. Jesus Christ is set forth in the book of Hebrews as our great High Priest, the heavenly Jeshua.
Rev. 7:3: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, not the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The primary characteristic of the latter house prophesied in Hag. 2:9: The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, says the Lord of Hosts.
The primary characteristic will be an unshakeable peace in the time of global shaking. Unshakeable peace and Unbreakable relationships are a product of unbroken covenant, and undivided heart.
This revelator understanding of the end time was given to the prophet Haggai over 2,500 years ago. As a messenger of the Lord, in his message, a window in the spirit was opened enough for Haggai to peer straight into the realm of the eternal Spirit. In this vision Haggai was able to see the day and time when God would create a people for His name and pleasure---a glorious church who would show forth the stability and permanency of the Lord’s unwavering Kingdom.
Ps. 119:165 Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
The primary characteristic of the latter house of greater glory will be an unshakeable peace in the time of global shaking. The Lord has determined to oust the strength of every throne and chariot.
The church must step up and walk in our full provision and come forth in this hour with the Lord of Hosts of the armies of Heaven and take our authority over the political spirits and religious spirits that have been sent to intimidate this supernatural empowerment of the Bride of Christ.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX.
Scripture from K.J.V. and N.I.V. I entered into the labors of Prophet Kelly Varner “Unshakeable Peace”, the Life and times of Haggai the Prophet. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.