ii. 21). 2. The glory qf an indwelling Divinity, in contrast with that of a merely eymbolic residence therein. The ark with its mercy-seat overshadowed by tho cherubim, bet,rnen whose outstretched wings shone the visible glory or the Shechinah -this ark .,.-hich o~cupied the holy of holies in the Solomonic temple, was not Jehovah, but on!:,- the material token of his presence. Though in the Ohristian Church there it!, &6 in Zerubhab~l's temple there was, no ark, yet the Divine presence fills it. Not only does Paul describe it as a temple which God inhabits (.iee above), but he represents it os !he body of tbe_g~ori~ed Christ~ the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Eph. i. 23), ana !'ren speaks 01 md1v1du&l believers as temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. vi. 9) and of the living God (2 Cor. vi. 16); while Christ expressly. promises to his Chw·oh. a perpetual indwellinis in their midst, not collectively alone, but individually 119 well (Mo.tt. xviii. 20; xxviii. 20; John xiv. 17, 28; xv. 4; xvi. 7, 22). ·a.TIie glory of diffusing spiritual <Ilfl,d eternal peace, as distinguished from a peace which should be merely temporal and temporary. The Solomonic temple was indeed built by one whose name was Peace, whose reign was undisturbed by foreign or domestic wars, and whose spirit was neither military nor aggressive; but it is doubtful if the whole period during which the Solomonic temple stood could "With truthfulness be characterized as one of peace (see the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles). Nor could it be asserted that.the era of the temple of Zerubbabel was throughout peaceful. "Temporal peace they had now, nor was there any prospect of its being di8turbed; . . . (but) in later times they had it not. The te111ple itself was profaned. by, Antiochus Epiphanes. . . . Again by Pompey, by Crassus, by the Parthians, berore it was destroyed by Titus and the Romane" (Pusey). But the temple of Jesus Christ was the building of One who was by pre-eminence the Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6), who came to teach men the way of peace (Luke i. 79), who bequeathed to his disciples as his parting legacy his own peace (John xiv. 2i), who died to make peace hetween God and man through his cross (Eph. ii. 14), and who has since come to men in and through his gospel, preaching peace ( Acts x. 36), and by his Spirit shedding peace abroad in the hearts of them .')V'.ho believe (Rom. v. 1; viii. 6; xiv. 17; Gal. v. 22; Phil. iv. 7; Col. iii. 15). Ill. THE LESSON. 1. The certainty of Goa's Word. What Haggai predicted ha~ at length been fulfilled. So will all God's promises reach realization. 2, The superiority of the gospel di.spensatwn. A dispensation not of letter and form, but of spirit and life; not of condemnation and death, bnt of justification and glory; not of temporal duration, but of eternal continuance. 3. The perfectibility of the 7:ace. Human history has hitherto progressed according to the law-" first that which. is natural, and after- wards that which is spiritual ; " there is no reason to believe it will do otherwise in the future. • '•
Vers. 10-19.-Z?ie parable of the holy and the unclean. I. THE LETTER OF THE PARABLE. Directed by Jehovah, Haggai proposes two questions to the priests. 1. Con• cerning the law of comm=icated sanctity. Supposing the· case of a. man carrying in the skirt of bis garment holy flesh, i.e. flesh of animals slain in sacrifice; and.with his skirt touching bread, pottage, wine, oil, or any meat, the prophet desires to be informed whether the holiness which according to the Law (Lev. vi. 27) was imparted to the skirt extended further eo as to reach also anything with which the skirt might come in contact. To this the priests properly answer, "No." 2. Concerning the law of legal d,efilement. Stating a contrary case, that of a person defiled by having himself touched a dead body (Lev. xxi. 11; Numb. xix. 16), Haggai asks whether contact with such a person would render any of the above articles unclean, and is promptly answered that according to the Law it would (Numb. xix. 22). II. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLE. "So is this people, and so is this riatiqn before me, saith the Lord." 1. .&ny sanctity possessed by tlie nation could not pas~ beyond themselvu. The sanctity which they possessed arose from the fact of their having au altar in Jerusalem, which had been built immediately on their return from Babylon, and of their maintaining in connection therewith the festal and sacrificial wc,rship appointed by the Law of Moses (Ezra iii. 1-6). Yet this could not .transmit itself to tht soil so as to render it holy and cause it to become fruitful in corn and wine aod oil, notwithstaudiog their disobedience in neglecting the building of the kmplc. Ou tLe other hand: 2. Whatever defilement u-as on the nation would ajlect all that • OH. 11, 1-23,) THE DOOK Ol<' HAGGAI. 31