The opening for
in Haggai 2:6 links back to the commands in Haggai 2:4–5. God has just told his people to be strong and work without fear. Now he explains why such courage and obedience are possible. They can give themselves wholeheartedly to his work because the future rests entirely in his hands. In Haggai 2:6–9 the Lord repeatedly declares what he will do: I will shake…
I will fill…
I will give peace…
Every verb in Haggai 2:6–9 highlights God’s own action or the results of his action. The coming age will be marked by abundance (Haggai 2:7–8), by the glory of God’s presence (Haggai 2:7, Haggai 2:9), and by the gift of peace (Haggai 2:9). This means the people’s present obedience is not what creates that future. Rather, their obedience is the way they enter the future God has already determined. The Lord draws his people forward by showing them what he intends to bring about. Hope becomes a kind of spiritual magnet—pulling them out of discouragement and strengthening them for present faithfulness.1
6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.