Haggai 2:22

"And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of nations; 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."

"I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms ..." This is a summary of human history throughout its entirety. God overthrew kingdoms in the times of Haggai, and soon thereafter, and has continued to overthrow kingdoms ever since. In fact, God, right now, is in the business of overthrowing kingdoms. All human kingdoms are founded upon false values; and sin, injustice, oppression, and exploitation at last mar the image of the best of them. There has never been founded a "permanent" earthly kingdom. The vain and ruthless perpetrators of the French Revolution imagined that they were building for all time, even changing the names of the calendar months, and dating history from their godless revolution. Hitler boasted that his "Third Reich" would last a thousand years, but it perished in blood and fire while Hitler himself was a young man, himself also carried away by its collapse. But is it any different with any other human state? No! "I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms" is the divine sentence from heaven against all of them.

It should be noted here that military terminology dominates this passage: "strength of nations," "chariots," "horses," and "sword." Jesus spoke of "wars and rumors of wars," declaring that "the end is not yet," indicating that these shall continue throughout all time to the end. How will God destroy the nations of men? "Every one by the sword of his brother ..." That is the "modus operandi" of the divine will.

In the light of this obvious meaning of the passage, we cannot join with those who apply these words exclusively to the overthrow of Babylon, or any of the other numerous upheavals of either ancient or modern history. Haggai held up for all men to see it who will, the character of all earthly states, as well as the means of their ultimate overthrow, "Every one by the sword of his brother."

However, true as these observations are believed to be, there is a far greater fulfillment of this passage yet future, as humanity approaches the end of their probation, as wickedness waxes worse and worse, as human states tend more and more to deify humanity and to reject the knowledge of God altogether, in the end times, all the nations of men will be overthrown in one cataclysmic occurrence. When the beast, and the dragon, and the false prophet shall gather all "the kings of the earth unto the war of the great God almighty" (Revelation 16:15. At that time "the cities of the nations" shall fall Revelation 16:19), and the primeval sentence upon Adam and Eve shall finally be executed in the person of their total posterity.

We do not need to suppose for a moment that Haggai grasped the full import of God's Word which came through him. Our own enlightenment upon what is meant can be immeasurably aided by the writings of the New Testament apostles and prophets of the New Covenant, notably among whom is the apostle John.