The Lord’s Signet (Haggai 2:23)

2022-08-09

A signet ring acts as a seal, like an official signature. It declares a document, “this is officially endorsed, proclaimed, etc. by me.” The king in Israel was like God’s signet; His anointed was His authority over the people, until one day:

As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 22:24-25)

The Lord, however, would restore His Anointed (read: Messiah or Christ) to replace this fallen king in the future:

In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. (Haggai 2:23)

In what day? “I will shake the heavens and the earth; And 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, every one by the sword of his brother” (Haggai 2:21-22). This is Christ’s second coming. Zerubbabel was an ancestor of Jesus according to the flesh (Matthew 1:12-13; Luke 3:27). This is a use of typology in the Old Testament where Zerubbabel represents Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son, is the signet of the Father. He is the One who will perfectly execute God’s will on earth. This will be done when He returns, which is why Haggai 2:21-22 is a clear reference to the Lord’s second coming, and not His first. “But now we see not yet all things put under him” (Hebrews 2:8).