Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Glory of the Latter House will be Greater than the Former

"The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. "And in this place I will give peace," says the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:9

As in times past we have talked about the glory of the latter house exceeding the former and that the shaking preceded the glory of the latter house. If we cross reference verse 6 in Haggai with Hebrews 12:26,27, the shaking precedes the revelation of His unshakeable kingdom. The former house was Solomon's temple, but the latter house is the saints of God.

You are the temple. Look at what the scriptures have to say.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 1Cor. 6:19

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.
2Cor.16:16

Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22

The former temple referred to in Haggai was Solomon's temple which was considered one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. It was an unbelievable structure and in terms of today's money it was estimated to be valued at 5 billion dollars a number of years ago, so I am sure that figure has gone up. It was glorious. During the time of Ezra when the temple was being rebuilt, the elders wept remembering the former glory of the temple. So when God says the latter glory will be greater than the former, He was not speaking of physical value; He was speaking of the Spirit. As I was pondering this I thought of Moses on the mountain receiving the law. When he came down his face glowed and he put a veil over his face to cover the fading glory. The scripture goes on to say if that which was passing away was glorious then how much more glorious would be the ministry of the Spirit.

If we look at the temple in the old testament as a type of us, we can make some interesting and I believe applicable observations. In Ezekiel 47 we see the water from under the threshold of the temple becoming a huge body of life giving water. He who believes in Me as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 Also at the dedication of Solomon's temple there were the 120 trumpeters who blew in unison and the shekinah glory of God filled the temple so that the priests were not able to stand in the flesh to minister. Sounds kind of like Pentecost with 120 in one accord in the upper room and when they were filled they ministered by the Spirit.

Jesus said that He had given us the glory that the Father had given Him, so that we might be one. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of glory and He has been given to us to be in us and upon us for empowering us to
"re-present" Jesus. We are called to be carriers of His presence. Even as the ark of God was to be carried upon sanctified shoulders, the presence of God is to be carried by the sanctified (saints). Collectively we are the temple and individually we are temples of the Holy Spirit. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit and the glory revealed in you is the glory of the Father via the Son. You are the latter house.

We have spoken in times past of the shaking and surely there is a shaking in many of our lives right now. If you are one of those being shaken, you can be encouraged in the fact that the shaking preceded a greater revelation of His glory and the receiving of an unshakeable kingdom. I pray you will be encouraged today by the Lord's presence.

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